To Go, Please REVISED
by Adrial
Summary: Revised, you guys! When the trials and tribulations of life take their toll on Mizuno Ami's already shattered heart, she reaches a rock bottom and has to re-build her trust in those who care for her. Humor and Drama, but still a lovable AmiZoi Fic. Enjoy!
1. 1 Endurance

Hey Again! As promised, I have totally and COMPLETELY gone over   
  
"To Go, Please" and revamped it! I'm so excited about all the   
  
changes. If you're wondering why I would go back and strip   
  
down this fic it's mainly for self-gratification. I didn't  
  
really believe I reached my full writing potential with each  
  
chapter so I cut a BUNCH and added even more. The changes aren't  
  
as significant in the first few chapters but as the story   
  
progresses and the plot speeds up considerably, it'll be like  
  
reading a whole new story. I really hope those that were  
  
fans of the previous version will appreciate this more   
  
mature and hopefully better written piece.  
  
Thanks so much for EVERYONE'S support in keeping me working  
  
on this. I really hope you enjoy it; this story has become  
  
more a part of me than any other in the 2 years I've spent   
  
working on it.   
  
Peace in 2004,  
  
Adrial  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own it, don't want it. I just write about it.  
  
Fanfic: "To go, please."   
  
Author: Adrial  
  
Rating: PG   
  
E-mail: adrial06yahoo.com  
  
CHAPTER 1: ENDURANCE   
  
Beyond the transparent glass of the bay window,   
  
rays of seeking sunshine passed into the room,   
  
adding a glow to the desolate mood within the it as   
  
shadows danced mournfully across the walls.   
  
My azure eyes deceived me with their cheery   
  
blue depths as I viewed my reflection in the   
  
mirror, pleading with it to dissipate before me   
  
so I could view some semblance of the tortured soul   
  
hidden beneath my calm exterior.   
  
I longed to extinguish the vibrant glow of   
  
my hair so I rumpled it with my fingers leaving   
  
it in a mass of tangles.   
  
Partly satisfied, I ventured across the cool   
  
wooden floor and reached for my robe, which lay   
  
wrinkled on my timeless dresser. My hand brushed against   
  
a smooth picture frame and longingly traced   
  
the image it held. Angrily, my other hand swatted   
  
its partner as if chastising a child and my gaze was   
  
torn away from the object and on to the navy   
  
fabric of my robe. I shouldn't dwell on the past.   
  
Sighing bitterly, I shook my self of any   
  
signs of remorse and placed on my trusty mask of coolness.   
  
It was just another day as me. I couldn't help   
  
but fantasize about waking up one day in the body   
  
of another person...someone other than myself.   
  
But let's not get into my daydreams. They couldn't   
  
comfort me now, anyway.   
  
Subconsciously, my hands felt for the   
  
toothpaste and I scrubbed my pearly teeth.   
  
After cleansing my face, my feet led me to my   
  
closet where I picked out a simple outfit without much   
  
deliberation and exited the room to eat a breakfast   
  
I was sure I wouldn't taste.   
  
My eyes wandered over my half-eaten bowl of cereal   
  
and lingered over my mother's coffee pot, still warm from   
  
previous use. She was gone, I knew. She always left   
  
before I got up, but left a scribbled note with   
  
instructions for dinner and apologies for working late   
  
that night or the previous evening.   
  
I rarely saw her. Part of myself resented   
  
that, but the half that was relieved at not having   
  
to explain my desolate moods rejoiced.   
  
Softly shutting the apartment door, I entered   
  
the elevator and mechanically pushed the ground   
  
floor button. My mother and I had moved into the  
  
extravagant apartment complex in central Tokyo 9  
  
years before. It was 74 stories, the largest in  
  
the city, and because of its close proximity to   
  
Juuban University, where I now studied to follow  
  
in my mother's medical footsteps, I chose to   
  
live at home--at least until graduation.  
  
The charming lobby glowed behind me as I   
  
breezed through the twirling doors, nearly knocking  
  
over a giggling little girl who was prancing in and  
  
out of them, evading her exasperated mother. I smiled  
  
absentmindedly, recognizing the couple as one of my   
  
neighbors, and gave a polite wave.  
  
Like a robot, I weaved through the   
  
condensed morning traffic on foot and approached   
  
the bus-stop. The biting chill that had frozen the  
  
sidewalk over night creaped underneath my coat and  
  
through my skin, sending shivers relentlessly through  
  
my body. I hugged my bookbag closer to my shoulder   
  
and slipped on gloves.   
  
At the corner of Lenox Street where I usually  
  
caught the 8:00 bus, I sighed with relief as the giant  
  
vehicle rolled into the stop, right on time for the first  
  
morning in weeks.   
  
The dreary interior did little to asuage the   
  
winter morning's wrath, and my teeth chattered incessantly  
  
as I searched for a seat in the overcroweded aisle. A small lady   
  
rose to allow me to sit beside her and I greatfully thanked her  
  
and sat.  
  
She eyed my strained smile curiously and quirked a   
  
silver eyebrow as she returned to the novel she'd been   
  
previously reading.   
  
Five minutes later, when my fingers had thawed and  
  
I had removed my hat and scarf, my mind drifted to the day   
  
which lay before me. Classes from 10 to 2, swim-team   
  
meeting at 2:30, a late lunch with Usagi afterwards, senshi   
  
meeting at the temple following that, and then...another   
  
night alone. Lovely.   
  
Finally, after 4 hard years of studying in   
  
high school, I barged through college's front doors   
  
and hungrily devoured any scholastic opportunities   
  
available. The challenges of college expectations   
  
forced me to push myself to the limit and the feeling   
  
of accomplishment I received after a hard day of   
  
educational studies made it all worthwhile.   
  
But even that feeling could not smother the   
  
immense cloud of loneliness aching in my heart.   
  
"Excuse me," I mumbled dully as a man shoved  
  
rudely passed our seat. I picked up the book he had  
  
so kindly ignored knocking out of my lap and dusted  
  
off the cover.   
  
The interruption reminded me to push all   
  
depressing thoughts to the farthest corner of my mind,  
  
lest I enter my first class, Biology 101, and receive a  
  
full interrogation from my lab partner and long time friend,   
  
Mamoru, who would then proceed to blab to Usagi, who would   
  
undoubtedly become glued to my side until I poured my heart and soul  
  
out to her in a moment of utter weakness. The thought   
  
made my stomach lurch.  
  
I exited the bus at my stop and trudged into my   
  
first class.   
  
Throughout the day my classes went as usual.   
  
I stayed alert for any vital information, scribbled notes   
  
as they came, humbly smiled at the compliments given to   
  
me by my professors, and left completely satisfied.   
  
But what was satisfaction without someone to   
  
be satisfied with me other than myself? The papers didn't   
  
hug me and tell me "Good job, Ami." No amount of wishful   
  
thinking would achieve that impossibility.   
  
Not to say that my fellow senshi were anything short   
  
of supportive. They were my best friends, my sisters.   
  
I loved them, yet that sisterly love just didn't quench my   
  
thirst for more.   
  
At the end of my final class, my anatomy professor   
  
hoarsely informed us that we were free to depart and returned   
  
to his desk to grade our tests. On his table-top sat pictures   
  
of his wife and two children. Even he had a life. Sometimes   
  
school could be so depressing.   
  
About an hour later, as I mentally reviewed the   
  
information my swim-team coach rattled off to our team   
  
at our final meeting of the season, my senses notified   
  
me of the presence of anther person.   
  
I pasted on a cheery smile at the bubbly face of   
  
Usagi. She looped her arm through mine and animatedly   
  
rambled about her day. My thoughts trailed elsewhere   
  
as she babbled, but her abrupt silence ceased their   
  
travels. She'd stopped mid-sentence when she realized   
  
I wasn't paying attention.   
  
"Ames...You there? Hellooo..Moon to Mercury!"   
  
Her high-pitched screech left my ears ringing, and as   
  
I snapped back to reality I couldn't help but giggle   
  
at her puffed out face and red cheeks from her outburst.   
  
"Oh, sorry Usa, I'm...a little out of it today."   
  
Releasing the hold on her inhaled air, her faced   
  
deflated slowly as she grinned sympathetically. "I'll say.   
  
What's up? You've been really down lately. Anything   
  
I can do?"   
  
Her sincerity dented the wall of sadness that barred my   
  
heart and my lips curved reluctantly into a genuine grin   
  
to pacify her.   
  
"Maybe we can talk later, Usagi-chan. Right now, I'm  
  
starving."   
  
Her mouth moved to protest but after seeing my pleading   
  
eyes, she relented and opted to give me a sisterly hug and   
  
assured me that it would be OK. My mention of food didn't  
  
go unnoticed either.  
  
"Fooood..." She sighed and tugged me harder into the  
  
direction of a string of restaurants clustered conveniently  
  
beside the campus green.  
  
I sighed as well, though not out of anticipation.   
  
I was slightly irked at myself for drowning in my own self  
  
pity all day long. It wasn't like me to be so melancholy  
  
for such a long time, but each time I tried to forget,  
  
tried to push memories away, they came tumbling over their  
  
lid with a vengance.  
  
Usagi began relaying a story of about her father  
  
doing something awful to embarass her at the market one  
  
day, and I sucked in a breath as if I'd been abruptly  
  
stung by something.  
  
She instantly paused, taking her arm out of mine  
  
and placing a hand over her mouth. Her eyes were wide, and  
  
I stared at them for a moment, stealing a few seconds from  
  
the world to relive a moment one week ago. The moment when  
  
my father came back.  
  
His shadow fell on the threshold of my apartment that night out   
  
of God-knows-where begging to talk to me. He left my mother and   
  
me when I was 10, and 9 years of pain attacked my soul with a   
  
vengeance at the sight of his long-forgotten face. Letting my   
  
emotions do the talking for me, I basically informed him that neither   
  
I, nor my mother needed any more emotional trouble from him in our   
  
hectic lives.   
  
My eyes did not fail to see the look of sorrow flash in his   
  
shimmering gray orbs and in that brief moment my body screamed at   
  
my heart to let it jump at him and lash him to pieces for the pain   
  
he caused, but my heart did not relent.   
  
After he eventually left, my mother arrived home to find my   
  
broken body racked with sobs and lying crinkled on the doorstep. She   
  
rushed to my side and immediately asked what happened to me.   
  
Through tears and a throbbing heart, I told her of my father's visit   
  
and she comforted me with hugs and dry kisses against my head.   
  
I felt quite content at that moment. That was until she decided   
  
to drop the bomb.   
  
"Ami-chan, what else has been troubling you lately?   
  
You never talk to me anymore...I feel like you're avoiding me.   
  
I miss you, sweetie," She cast her eyes downwards, "You know...  
  
you keep going off all the time, and I worry about you."  
  
I stared into her eyes at that moment and wished so badly   
  
to tell her of the turbulent whirlpool of emotions that clouded   
  
my mind--to tell her how much I longed for someone to love me--how much   
  
I wished I could be normal with no responsibilities. I almost did.   
  
And that scares me. But, it made me realize that I would never be   
  
able to tell her about all my troubles because my identity as a   
  
senshi could not be revealed.   
  
I wanted to mend the broken bond between us, but all I could   
  
do was let out a painful sob and flee to my bedroom...away from her   
  
pain-stricken face.   
  
I know she cried. I cried. I cried for my mother whom I had   
  
lost my bond with, my father whom I never knew and probably never   
  
would know...and my eyes left pools of moisture on my red face for   
  
the image in the picture frame--he left me, too--and as much as   
  
I'm ashamed to admit it, I cried for me.   
  
I never asked for any of this. It was chosen for me before   
  
in a life that I can hardly remember. I am the pretty sailor suited   
  
soldier, Mercury, destined to protect Princess Serenity. I know it   
  
sounds horrible, but sometimes I wish I never found that black feline   
  
that fateful day. Ever since, I've been battling malicious youmas and   
  
evil witches knowing that they'd never cease in their thirst for   
  
destruction.   
  
But, if my wish did come true and I was stripped of Mercury's   
  
power, who would I be? After all the smoke lifted and I was able to   
  
inhale the sweet air of peacefulness knowing that I wouldn't have to  
  
become Sailor Mercury again, what else would be left? Without   
  
Mercury I'd be nothing but plain old book-worm Ami. I wanted more  
  
than that! I wanted to be more than that.   
  
Part of me screamed to be set free from this prison of   
  
predictability. I wanted to have someone who was able to unleash   
  
the sweet, affectionate, spontaneous side of me. In truth...   
  
I wanted what Usagi and Mamoru have.   
  
Well, who doesn't? Wouldn't you? Imagine...a love you didn't   
  
even have to work to get? It just popped up like a rabbit out of a  
  
hat and you were blissfully happy together.   
  
Oh, but who am I kidding here? Of COURSE they worked for it.   
  
They died countless times for each other and waited a millennia to be   
  
rejoined. I am happy for them--it's just...God, I envy their love   
  
so much. At least the others are dating. I can't even get a second   
  
glance from most guys--probably because I don't stay around long   
  
enough to see if I will.   
  
Forced to release my thoughts into the crowded space in   
  
my mind, I watched Usagi pull open a set of glass doors and   
  
allowed the strong aroma of hazelnut and vanilla to waft into   
  
my nostrils. A few students sat at various tables throughout   
  
the room sipping mocha chinos while reading books or chatting   
  
sociably with friends.   
  
When the newly constructed Starbucks opened, Usagi   
  
practically dragged us all into it, stating that on her visit   
  
to America to see family, the mochas and cafe lattés had hooked her.   
  
Needless to say, she saw little of her family that summer and a lot   
  
more of the inside of a steaming cup of vanilla flavored caffeine.   
  
It didn't take long for Rei and Minako and fall in love with   
  
their hazelnut mochas or Makoto to order five vanilla frappachinos,   
  
and so began our daily Starbucks ritual.   
  
I eyed the menu while Usagi rattled off the orders of our friends.   
  
Momentarily distracted from the menu by the yelp of laughter sounding   
  
from a nearby table, my eyes ventured over the counter at our waiter   
  
for the first time and pulled to an abrupt halt. As his full lips   
  
stretched into a polite smile towards Usagi as she tried to sort out   
  
the orders, my heart sped up wildly, beating as if I were running a   
  
50-mile marathon.   
  
Now keep in mind, I never give men a good looking-over, but...  
  
this man was...amazing.   
  
His honey-blonde hair fell sexily across his forehead to   
  
accentuate his sea-green eyes. My spine tingled and I pleaded with   
  
my eyes to stop their travel, but they would not oblige. His chiseled   
  
chest could be seen under his uniform shirt and I almost began   
  
fantasizing him without it on, but my thoughts were interrupted   
  
by Usagi's voice, yet again.   
  
"Ami, you spacing out again?"   
  
I felt my cheeks flush crimson and I straightened myself   
  
to look at her.   
  
"Um..n-no, sorry. Just...trying to decide what I want."   
  
That shouldn't be too hard...   
  
My excuse seemed to satisfy her--at least for now--and   
  
forcing my hungry eyes to gaze at something other than the   
  
attractive male taking my order, I pretended to be reading the   
  
menu over his head and mumbled my order of a vanilla espresso.   
  
His rather inviting lips curved into another smile.   
  
"Will that be for here, or to go, miss?"   
  
"For here." The words left my mouth before I could put a   
  
leash on them and restrain them and I quickly squashed the urge   
  
to sit at a table and just watch him work all afternoon.   
  
"I-I mean, t-to go." I managed to stretch my lips into some   
  
semblance of a smile and retrieved my cup from his hands.   
  
I could not ignore the sensation of total bliss that soared through   
  
my veins as his long fingers brushed my own.   
  
Did he just call me 'Miss'? The first male I'm attracted to   
  
in forever and he thinks I'm OLD.  
  
I shook the thought off and, turning abruptly,   
  
walked briskly to the door snatching up a few napkins as I went.   
  
"Hey, Ames! Wait for me!" Poor Usagi was carrying a   
  
crowded tray of four beverages, and I stopped to help her   
  
out before she and the drinks both toppled over.   
  
I didn't know what came over me. I had seen attractive   
  
men all over campus...why was I suddenly acting like a little   
  
school girl? I almost wanted to giggle and skip down the   
  
sidewalk and would have if it had not been for that blasted   
  
voice again, interrupting my thoughts.   
  
I think I'm going insane.   
  
"So, Ami-chan. You wanna explain what just happened   
  
in there?" Her sapphire orbs searched my own and she had   
  
the look of knowingness that I soon came to fear.   
  
"Usagi-chan? What do you mean?" I played innocent   
  
and sipped my espresso.   
  
"You know what I mean! The customers in there were   
  
about to whip out their row boats so they wouldn't drown   
  
in your sea of drool! Not to mention the babbling and   
  
intense blushing. If I was crazy, I'd say you just got bit   
  
but the LuuUUUUv Bug." She laughed at the look of pure   
  
stupor that appeared on my face.   
  
"You are crazy, for one. And for two, I did not   
  
get bitten by any "Luv Bug" as you call it. There is no   
  
such thing. I just...couldn't decide what I wanted," The creamy  
  
liquid in my cup seemed much more inviting then her smug   
  
smirks at the moment.   
  
I reached up to tuck some hair behind my ears like I   
  
always do in awkward situations.   
  
"Uh huuh...reeeaalllly..." She placed an arm around my   
  
shoulder,"Don't worry about it!" She wriggled her eyebrows   
  
and leaned closer towards my ear, "His eyes were doing a   
  
little 'wandering' of their own, too."   
  
With that she took off giggling madly and managed to   
  
almost run over a pedestrian. I stood stupefied for a few   
  
seconds before chasing after her.   
  
"Usagi! What do you mean, 'wandering'?! Come back here!   
  
USAGI!"   
  
Well? How'd you like so far? I really am enjoying writing it   
  
and if you have any comments PLEASE e-mail me! I really want   
  
to hear from you! Flames or compliments... all are welcome!   
  
adrial06yahoo.com  
  
UNTIL NEXT TIME! ja ne!   
  
-Adrial 


	2. 2 Release

OK, I was NOT expecting for my first chapter to actually   
  
get loaded on ASMR, b/c I've tried so many times and failed   
  
that it seemed impossible. But...as you can see, I've finally   
  
gotten it up here! I'm soooooooooooo happy, it's like   
  
winning a war or something.  
  
Well for those reading now, I've had this story posted in   
  
FF.net for a while time and the notes are a little dated. But   
  
you get it easy b/c now you KNOW that i'll have a new ch.   
  
every week since I'm practically finished w/ the fic as we speak.   
  
Anyway, I hope you like it as much as the FF.net readers and I do, ja!  
  
-Adrial  
  
TO GO PLEASE   
  
Author : Adrial  
  
Rating : PG13   
  
E-mail : adrial06yahoo.com  
  
CHAPTER 2: RELEASE   
  
Within my skull, my brain pounded wildly, pleading   
  
for the relentless torture to cease. My breaths left my   
  
lips in short, fleeting gasps. The clammy perspiration   
  
coating the palms of hands caused them to slip in their   
  
death grip on the table.  
  
Suffocation...need air, sweet wonderful air...  
  
I had to get out of here, but there was no exit...  
  
no escape from this constant torment.   
  
"What happened?"   
  
"Was he hot?"   
  
"Did you talk to him?"   
  
"How was he from behind?"   
  
"MINAKO!"   
  
"What?"   
  
I placed a hand over my forehead and let an exasperated   
  
sigh flow out. At this rate they'd never stop their infinite   
  
barrage of questions. Thanks a lot, Usagi-chan. I sent   
  
a heated glare towards the giggling blonde and if she   
  
registered it at all, her only reaction was to join in   
  
their interrogation.   
  
"Come ON, Ami-chan! If there hadn't been a counter   
  
between the two of you, you would have pounced on him in two   
  
seconds flat!"   
  
Ugh, that stupid "knowing" look again. I longed for   
  
nothing more then to smack it right off that smug little face.   
  
The minute we entered the temple she dropped the drinks on the   
  
table and proceeded to blab the entire--extremely uncomfortable   
  
on my part--scene to our friends. Not to mention the fact that   
  
she completely EXAGGERATED the better part of the story.   
  
"You guys, please. Nothing happened. Let's just get down   
  
to business."   
  
Minako wasted no time in extinguishing my last attempt   
  
at escape.  
  
"What business? There haven't been any attacks for weeks   
  
now. Now, tell us allll about it."   
  
She got me. Damn it all.   
  
I stubbornly clamped my mouth closed and pretended to   
  
read the writing on my paper cup filled with a now lukewarm   
  
espresso while trying desperately to smother the feelings   
  
that arose when they mentioned the waiter who'd been invading   
  
my thoughts for the past hour.   
  
It had been so long since I'd gotten that 'mushy-gushy'   
  
feeling in my stomach--not since...   
  
Besides, it was far too soon to start any beginning of   
  
a relationship. My heart was too raw. It couldn't handle   
  
another blow.   
  
"OK, guys, give it up. You know how stubborn Ami can be.   
  
How about some brownies?"   
  
Thank you, Makoto   
  
At the sight of the decadent treats, Usagi pounced upon   
  
the table with a low growl, launching two mochas into mid-air.   
  
Sputtering beneath the avalanche of steaming liquid,   
  
Rei's face turned a shade of crimson that would have made a   
  
wonderful camouflage--if she was standing in front of a fire   
  
engine.  
  
"Usagi-baka!"   
  
Usagi sheepishly mumbled an apology to our fire-breathing   
  
companion while munching on a half-eaten brownie.  
  
Pillow in hand, Rei swatted at her full-force, missing by   
  
a mile and knocking the tray of brownies to the wooden floor.   
  
Usagi could barely suppress her tears at the loss of the   
  
sweets.   
  
"Rei-chan, you have crossed the line this time! You can   
  
call me names, make fun of my eating habits, rant and rave at   
  
me allll you want, but when you harm-my-brownies," her voice   
  
faded to a low whisper, "it-gets-PERSONAL."   
  
With that, she leaped over the table, landing atop her   
  
raven-haired friend and beginning an intense pillow-fight,   
  
her passionate rage dissolving into a fit of giggles.   
  
I was relieved to have the attention drawn away from me,   
  
and the rest of us didn't waste any time in joining in the fight.   
  
It was quite fun, actually, and left my spirits lifted a notch   
  
or two.   
  
Usagi glared at her chemistry book as we   
  
departed Rei's temple, mumbling incoherently about how   
  
she'd hate to be related to someone who had the "free-time"   
  
to sit down and write 2000 pages of chemical equations.   
  
Minako fervently nodded her compliance, gesturing   
  
towards her arm load of physics reference material and   
  
cringed.  
  
"I don't even remember buying this one..." They   
  
waved as they headed off in the opposite direction, Makoto   
  
in tow.  
  
I sighed, breathing in the cool night air that   
  
soothed my lungs and sent comforting chills down my spine.   
  
With no other place to go, my thoughts drifted   
  
to the image in my bedroom--the prisoner of the picture   
  
frame. I had to let him go. Tonight I would take him out   
  
and throw him away...forever. The thought of ridding   
  
myself of him made my heart contract with pain.   
  
In the still night air, visions of that day surrounded   
  
me, forcing me to remember...the day he left me.   
  
"Aishiteru, Ami-chan." His lips released the words in   
  
a soft whisper--they acting like a protective blanket to smother   
  
another hidden message beneath them, and I let them hang in the   
  
air for a few moments before I replied.   
  
"Aishiteru, Urawa-chan."   
  
And I did. I thought so, anyway.   
  
Never had I opened my heart to a man before. I believed I   
  
would never love a man again because there would be no need--he   
  
would always be there.   
  
But I was wrong. I was a fool. I was so na‹ve to love.   
  
That same night, the drizzling rain that fell around us   
  
morphed into a horrendous hurricane of despair in my mind in an   
  
instant. I felt as if I were drowning in the turbulence of the   
  
raw emotions of grief I was feeling and there was no life-raft   
  
to save me. He was my life-raft and he turned away.   
  
"Ami-chan..." He paused for a thoughtful second and began   
  
again. "Ami-chan, I-I can't be with you anymore." The words lingered   
  
over my heart for a while before plunging into it with daggers,   
  
ripping deep to the center. I'll never forget the pain as each   
  
word cut into my being.   
  
I was dumbfounded--completely unaware of what was happening.   
  
"Urawa? Wh-what do you mean?" My eyes held the innocence   
  
of a child, pleading for him to tell me he was only joking.   
  
I begged the heavens above to shed their light on the moment,   
  
but they turned on me as well.   
  
"I mean...I can't be with you. I...don't love you."   
  
He didn't love me? But didn't he just say...  
  
Those were my thoughts as he continued to spout flimsy   
  
sentences to try to explain away the pain he was inflicting on me.  
  
"Listen to me...please." He pleaded with me. I could no   
  
longer speak so if I wished to decline his wishes I could not do so.   
  
"If I love you...eventually we will both get hurt. I'm not   
  
who you think I am," He sighed.  
  
"But I know about your powers...what do you mean?" I   
  
argued futilely with him.  
  
"If I could tell you, I would, Ami-chan. If I could   
  
change my past, I would. But the fact is that I can't," His   
  
face was contorted with frustration, "I would give anything   
  
not to do what I'm doing. I can't bear to see you in pain."   
  
I found my voice again and spoke harshly, "Urawa...if   
  
you think that leaving me--"   
  
"I have to go...Ami-san,"   
  
Were these the same eyes I'd grown to love? Were they   
  
staring blankly through my own? They couldn't possibly be, but....  
  
Ami-san   
  
Before my nerves could transmit instructions to my vocal   
  
chords to speak again, he was gone. His shadow lingered beneath   
  
a street lamp, and slowly melted away in the night.   
  
That was the day that Urawa left me. Were the fates that   
  
cruel? I had thought as I stood there alone.   
  
Unlike Usagi and Mamoru's break ups there would be no rejoining   
  
after realizing it was some trick of the mind. He had truly left   
  
me--never to return. I could feel it in my soul.   
  
My locked knees gave in to the reeling pain that gripped my   
  
insides, and I collapsed, shaking with sobs only a wounded   
  
soul could weep.   
  
I felt my heart crack and litter my soul with shards   
  
of red--shards of love...the love I had given so completely   
  
to him.   
  
Lying there, broken and sobbing uncontrollably,   
  
was where Usagi found me. She gathered me in her   
  
protective arms and rocked me like a child. I could   
  
not feel anything anymore. A place where I would   
  
have once found warmth now seemed hollow and cold.   
  
She let me cry for a while before helping me stand   
  
and leading me into her home, not too far from the place   
  
where I lay.   
  
As we passed her foyer and trudged heavily up the   
  
stairs, I gazed at the carpeted floor as my mind replayed   
  
the events that took place minutes before.   
  
Usagi opened her door and guided me to her bed.   
  
As she moved to close it again, my eyes fell upon a picture   
  
of Mamoru and her. They looked so happy--so in love.   
  
I had to restrain myself from throwing it out the open window.   
  
My heart screamed deafeningly with pain and I doubled over   
  
on her bed.   
  
I felt her warm hands soothe back my hair gently, as a   
  
mother would do, softly hushing me with her fluid movements.   
  
Moisture that did not stem from my rapidly filling eyes   
  
dampened my shoulders. My hair was sopping wet. Had it been raining?   
  
Usagi handed me a warm towel, gesturing to her bathroom.   
  
I blankly stared at the door, suddenly forgetting how to approach it.   
  
With a shake of my head, I gathered myself and disappeared behind it.   
  
Avoiding the mirror, I dried my damp hair and neck.   
  
Usagi knocked and slipped a pair of her pajamas in to me.   
  
Once I emerged, she had already changed and was sitting   
  
at her desk. She patted her bed. As soon as my head, heavy with   
  
jumbled thoughts, landed deftly on her pillow, I fell prisoner   
  
to an uneasy sleep filled with amorphous images that I couldn't depict.   
  
When I awoke it was midnight and I was wrapped in her bed   
  
linens. Despite the warmth of my position, my insides were frozen   
  
and I shivered uncontrollably.   
  
My ears registered the soft snoring of Usagi on the floor   
  
beneath me and I decided to enter the land of slumber once again...  
  
where I could no longer feel the pain.   
  
Astonishingly, I slept dreamlessly for the remainder of that night.   
  
As my eyes cracked open the following morning they strained from   
  
the incoming sun's rays. Maybe it was all a dream.   
  
But it wasn't. I was still in the her bed sheets.   
  
I could hear Usagi in the bathroom washing. I gazed at the clock.   
  
It was about noon now and I was startled that I slept so deeply.   
  
The bathroom door opened and Usagi entered the room   
  
some-what cautiously.   
  
"Good-morning, Ami-chan. How do you feel?"   
  
I found my voice and muttered a weak 'I'm fine.'   
  
"Do you want to talk about it?" She sat gently beside me.   
  
As much as my mind pled with me not to make it remember his   
  
stinging words, I felt the need to vent to someone who would   
  
understand the pain of losing a love.   
  
"H-he...left me." The words seemed so foreign...like they   
  
didn't belong to me.   
  
Her silence urged me to go on and I hugged a pillow to my chest.   
  
"Last night...he told me he didn't love me and he left...Urawa."   
  
I felt the tears slip down my cheeks and didn't bother   
  
to wipe them away.   
  
"Oh, Ami." I felt her arms wrap around my body tightly   
  
and I hugged her back, weeping openly into her embrace.   
  
After I calmed myself again I let the scene flow out of   
  
my mouth without pause for tears. There were none left to cry   
  
at the moment.   
  
She was empathetic to my pain and did the best she could   
  
to comfort me with words.   
  
"You will get through this, Ami-chan. I know you will. You are   
  
one of the most emotionally strong people I know. Time will heal   
  
your pain." She cupped her hands on my face as she spoke.   
  
Something in her cerulean eyes made me believe her.   
  
I would heal. Time would heal my broken heart.   
  
I had never been more grateful for Usagi coming into my   
  
life than at that very moment.   
  
It's been a few months since that fateful day and   
  
I can feel the bandages of time still tending to the wounds   
  
of my soul.   
  
Please, hurry. I don't want this pain anymore.   
  
I urged it each time I felt a twist from remembering   
  
his voice...his face...his laugh.  
  
I pushed the door open and walked into my mother's and   
  
my apartment. She wasn't home yet, thankfully. It would be a   
  
lot harder to complete the task at hand if she was here to   
  
inquire about it.   
  
Taking my time, I let my feet guide me to my room.   
  
Not bothering to take off my coat, I lifted the frame from   
  
it's resting place on my dresser--the prisoner...Urawa.   
  
He looked so handsome in the summer sun. I remembered   
  
taking that photo on one of our dates to the mountains.   
  
We had curled up under the shade of a massive tree and he   
  
held me in his arms as if I were the most fragile thing   
  
in the universe. I longed for his touch...his love.   
  
Shaking myself of the memory, I ripped out his   
  
picture and walked out of my room to the living room.   
  
My hand struck a match and released it into the fireplace,   
  
its flames hungrily devouring the wood.   
  
I watched with steady eyes as the wood was engulfed   
  
in flames before picking up his picture once again.   
  
I glanced from it to the now roaring fire and stopped   
  
my arm in mid-toss.  
  
I couldn't do it. I just couldn't let him go.   
  
As much as I thought of all the pain he inflicted on me,   
  
I couldn't forget his words telling me that he had to do it...  
  
for my protection. He had loved me.   
  
I would move on from him, but I could never forget   
  
his love and my love for him. He would always stay in my   
  
heart, beneath the busy reconstruction.   
  
My body curled up in a tight ball and I just rocked   
  
back-and-forth. Not one tear shed as I let him go from myself.   
  
Good luck in life, Urawa...I will never forget you.   
  
Now that I've let him go I feel relieved of a heavy weight.   
  
I can move on with my life. I will move on with my life.   
  
I thought these words as I tucked his photo into a corner of my   
  
closet along with an old set of books and a pair of battered ice   
  
skates from ages before. Soon, I would remove them from their   
  
places to be forgotten forever--when I was ready.  
  
I heard the front door slide open and sighed.   
  
My mother's glowing, yet tired, face popped through my   
  
doorway a few moments later. She held up a rented video   
  
and nodded to the living room. I rose and silently ignored   
  
her raised hand holding the tape.  
  
As I enveloped her in a tight embrace,   
  
I could feel her shaky hand come to rest lightly upon my back,   
  
and a wave of released air blew over the top of my bent   
  
head softly.   
  
Wow...I think that chapter was, well...less than stellar,   
  
but I had to get past the cause of the pain. Now it's   
  
smooth sailing from here!  
  
....or maybe not. ;-D  
  
chapter 3's coming soon!  
  
ja ne!   
  
-Adrial  
  
Adrial06yahoo.com 


	3. 3 All's Fair in Truth or Dare

Hey everyone! Gracias for those 2 who reviewed this  
  
new version, I'm so excited about getting the later chapters  
  
out; I've made about 3 brand new chapters that I'm thrilled  
  
with and really make this fic more layered and interesting,   
  
at least in my opinion. Stick with me if you're reading these  
  
1st few chaps and thinking that they're not that interesting.  
  
I barely altered them and they're about 2 years old now and  
  
so I'm 2 years oldER, so you'll notice a change in style towards the   
  
end. Well, enough of my babbling, on w/ the fic!  
  
Yeah..um, I know that Truth or Dare is not exactly something   
  
college students play all the time, but I had to do this   
  
part in order to set up the next chapter. It's not that bad,   
  
honest! :D  
  
And, YEAH, alcohol's mentioned in here. If you didn't already   
  
know, people do consume the occasional alcoholic beverage,   
  
especially those in college. I only warn those who are either   
  
in exile from the real world (and I don't mean that lame-ass   
  
TV show) or have a problem with drinking that it's here--RUN FOR  
  
YOUR SOBRIETY!   
  
Like I said, not that big of deal, but I've had one too many  
  
morality lectures to tide me over for a few years...or decades.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own sailor moon or its characters,   
  
OR starbucks! ;D  
  
a frapachino does sound good though.....yummmmmm..  
  
Enjoy!  
  
TO GO PLEASE  
  
CHAPTER 3: "All's Fair in Truth or Dare"  
  
RATING: PG  
  
BY: ADRIAL  
  
E-MAIL: adrial06yahoo.com  
  
TO GO PLEASE  
  
I had just been introduced to my latest, mortal  
  
enemy. She was coy little thing, with beady red eyes that  
  
could burn a hole in my forehead from just looking at it  
  
and a sly grin plastered permanently on her milk white   
  
face with no sign of dispersing.   
  
The devilish thing had a knack for pulling innocents  
  
into her trap with her pouty lips and angelic visage, but  
  
I refused to be taken prisoner to her--not this time. I sighed,  
  
exasperated, as beads of frustrated sweat trickled down my   
  
forehead.   
  
She'd already gotten them, spinning her web of   
  
manipulation, and they'd fallen, willingly, into it.   
  
Usagi, of course, had been first to succomb. I'd tried   
  
to catch her, make her see the evil in the scarlet eyes,   
  
but she'd merely gone anyway, squealing with giddiness.   
  
Minako--my, did she put up a fight,but to no   
  
avail. The creature's hypnotic spell was spun, her victims   
  
taken.  
  
Makoto and Rei had been hesistant to give in  
  
as well. Rei had tried; she put her nose in the air and  
  
shut her eyes in concentration. Usagi convinced her,  
  
though, and Makoto was soon to follow.  
  
My eyes were now shut against their laughing  
  
faces, and the enemy's constant smirk. Something tickled  
  
my lips, and I fell backward from the shock.  
  
"Come on, Ami-chan! Just pet her!" Usagi   
  
exclaimed, shoving the ball of fur into my face once more.  
  
I put out my hands, bit down my lip and forced  
  
myself to think about the myriad of dents now adorning  
  
my mother's 800 dollar coffee table legs.  
  
"NO! My mother is going to KILL me for what  
  
she did to her table!" I yelled back, scooting farther  
  
into the corner of my bed and put my hands over my eyes.  
  
Minako frowned and picked up the rabbit.   
  
"But she didn't really mean it, did you Mimi?" She  
  
cooed at the adorable little nuisance.  
  
She was rewarded with a wiggle of whiskers  
  
and squealed in delight.  
  
"I just love you so much, yes I do, yes I  
  
do!" Minako masaged the powder white fur in between  
  
the bunny's eyes and giggled.  
  
"My turn!" Makoto announced, shoving past  
  
the ogling blonde and retrieving the animal.  
  
"You guys, just take it out in the hall or  
  
something," I said in defeat, trying to figure out  
  
where I was going to acquire the cash to pay for   
  
the damaged table legs.   
  
To add to my pain, someone began furiously  
  
pounding on my front door. I leapt out of my bed,  
  
hopping over their squeals and bent faces of joy,  
  
and skidded to a halt in the foyer.  
  
When I threw the door open there was no  
  
one there, and I furrowed my brow in annoyance.  
  
"Ami-san!" A defiant little voice yelled,  
  
and I immediately looked down.  
  
Two round amber eyes brimmed with tears  
  
were staring back up at me.  
  
"Malina! I was just about to come and get  
  
you," I sighed out of relief. I had graciously  
  
volunteered to rabbit-sit for the day while Malina  
  
and her mother did their Christmas shopping.  
  
"Where's Mimi? MIMI!" She yelled, scurrying  
  
past my legs and into my apartment, "MIMI! I'M  
  
BAACK!"  
  
I smacked my forehead, not really to assuage  
  
the brewing headache there, and slammed the door  
  
shut.  
  
"Aww, do we have to?" Usagi pouted,   
  
looking as if at any given moment she might bolt  
  
for the door with the rabbit and never come back.  
  
I nodded vigorously. She stuck out her bottom  
  
lip and begrudgingly handed the white mass in her arms  
  
over to the squealing six year old.  
  
Even Rei looked sorrowful, and folded her arms   
  
across her stomach, trying to appear nonchalant.  
  
"Mimi! I missed you soooo much!" Malina's  
  
chubby little fingers lifted her pet into the air  
  
and twirled her around in circles.   
  
"Did you miss me, too? Didja, didja, didja?!"  
  
She stuck her ear close to Mimi's wiggling mouth and  
  
waited for answer.  
  
Rei coughed, "Um, I don't think she can   
  
talk, sweetie."   
  
Mimi looked stricken, "Yes, she can! She  
  
talks to me all the time!" Beads of moisture accumlated  
  
in her eyes, and she glanced at me as if begging me  
  
to beat my raven-haired friend into submission for ever  
  
doubting her rabbit's ability to communicate verbally.  
  
I laughed nervously, "Of course she can, Malina.  
  
Well, I guess your mother will be waiting!" I gestured  
  
towards my front door, ecstatic that the furry pest  
  
would be making her exit soon.  
  
She laughed again, tucked the fat rabbit under  
  
her arm and tore out the door and into her apartment, two  
  
doors down.  
  
Minako sighed despondently, "That was the CUTEST  
  
thing I've ever seen."  
  
She fell back onto my couch with a sigh and   
  
laughed, "Kinda sucks that she screwed up your mom's  
  
table, though."  
  
I raked my fingers through my hair and plopped  
  
down into the leather armchair behind me, "No, Minako.  
  
It really sucks."   
  
Rei and Makoto took seats on either side of Minako.  
  
"Mmmf! MmmmmmmmmmFFFOWWW!"  
  
Either Usagi's bookbage was possesssed, or there  
  
was an extremely pissed off biology book wrestling with  
  
itself inside.  
  
It jiggled and flopped across my carpet and we  
  
collectively gasped. Usagi slapped her forehead and   
  
tackled it.  
  
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, you guys!" She frantically  
  
unzipped the bag and a disgruntled, black head popped out.  
  
"It's about time! I was about to suffocate!" She  
  
wriggled out and shook out her fur.   
  
"YOU were going to suffocate? You nearly clawed  
  
my eyeballs out ten times in there!" Artemis hopped out,  
  
his white fur disheveled and his whiskers bent at odd  
  
angles. Minako scooped him up and placed him in her lap  
  
where he proceeded to clean his face with the back of  
  
his paw.  
  
Luna rolled her cinnamon eyes and hopped onto the  
  
table.   
  
"Hey, if you guys wouldn't have been looking  
  
at Mimi with that I'm-a-hungry-cat-and-I'm-about-to-pounce   
  
look, I wouldn't have had to stuff you in there!" Usagi   
  
stated, easing onto a twin arm chair on the opposite   
  
side of the table.  
  
"I can't help it if it kept looking at me with  
  
those beady little eyes," Artemis shivered.  
  
Makoto nosily opened a bag of potato chips and  
  
shoved a few in her mouth. Usagi held out her hands eagerly  
  
and Makoto rummaged through the bag, producing a fragment   
  
of a chip and placing it into her palm.  
  
Usagi gasped, "Makoto! Don't hog them all!"  
  
She popped the tiny bit in to her mouth and pounced  
  
on Makoto, wrestling for the bag of greasy potato   
  
shavings.  
  
Artemis leapt out of her path and sat beside  
  
Luna on the top of the glass table. Makoto laughed,  
  
standing up to her full height of 5'11" and watched  
  
Usagi try to gain 8 inches of height to reach it.  
  
"When you have QUITE finished." Luna   
  
said in her no-nonsense tone, and I was sure that   
  
if she was human, she would have been tapping her   
  
foot impatiently.  
  
Makoto stopped her arm from pushing on Usagi's   
  
head, and let the bag of chips drop lightly into her open  
  
hands. Usagi squealed triumphantly and plopped onto the  
  
floor, tearing through the bag ravenously.  
  
Rei rolled her purple eyes towards the ceiling,   
  
and Minako thought better of asking for a chip, lest she   
  
loose a finger.  
  
"Man, this migraine is killing me," Makoto   
  
said, masaging her temples slowly. Minako rummaged  
  
through her purse for something and offered her a   
  
white bottle of Tylenol. Makoto accepted it and   
  
popped 3 in her mouth, dry.  
  
"Gee, I wonder why," Rei stated sarcastically,  
  
and stole a few chips from Usagi's hand when she wasn't  
  
looking.   
  
Makoto smiled sweetly at her. Usagi and she   
  
had spent the previous night and into the morning hours   
  
"gettin' their freak on" (or something of that caliber)   
  
at some random frat boy's party whom they'd met   
  
briefly at the mall.  
  
"You shoulda come, Rei, they had the ENTIRE  
  
basketball team there!" Makoto laughed at Rei's envious  
  
pout.  
  
Parties weren't exactly my type of scene.   
  
Ear-slitting bass, pools of week old beer, and sweaty   
  
bodies grinding against each other in every inch of   
  
available space did little to entice me.  
  
I'd been to one before, after being deviously   
  
tricked by Rei and Minako, who had coyly shrugged and said   
  
"Oh, I didn't know this was where that mixer was...  
  
I could have sworn it said 'Education Awareness Meeting'   
  
on the flier. Oh well...why not?" when we pulled up in   
  
front of the two story house currently decorated with   
  
half-baked jocks dangling from the windows like   
  
disoriented chimpanzees.  
  
I winced from the memory of a stoned, 300   
  
something pound football player stumbling past me,   
  
knocking the breath out of me and then choosing the   
  
patch of grass directly beside my feet to regurgitate   
  
the keg of beer he'd just consumed through a funnel.  
  
Minako had smiled brightly from behind her   
  
half-empty, possibly alcoholic beverage (I was too   
  
disgusted by frat-puke to bother to ask) at a guy I   
  
recognized from my literature class, while Rei glared   
  
daggers at any male within a fifty foot radius who   
  
looked at her the wrong way.   
  
Eminem was "losing himself" rather rambunctiously   
  
from inside, and while Missy Elliot worked it across the street   
  
where a neighboring party was being held, I fled the   
  
scene before Rei and Minako had the chance to drag   
  
me back.  
  
I returned home to the comfort and silence of my   
  
immaculate apartment, only to be bombarded with the   
  
'BOOM BOOM' of a car's bass as it roared past my complex.   
  
I slammed the windows shut and dove under my pillows.  
  
Never again. I'd vowed silently to myself   
  
that night.  
  
"Hey, was the new starter there? I hear he's   
  
a new transfer...M-something," Minako asked eagerly,  
  
obviously regretting the photo shoot she'd been  
  
obligated to the night before.  
  
Makoto shrugged, "I dunno. But that hot  
  
sophmore showed up, the one in your lit. class, Rei."  
  
Rei shrugged it off--obviously not interested.  
  
"Alright, we are not turning this meeting  
  
into a gossip-fest," Artemis stated grumpily. I guessed  
  
he was slightly irked that Minako was so openly  
  
blabbering about the opposite sex--and in front   
  
of HIM! 'Her mentor of all people,' he'd said  
  
one day when he thought I was out of ear-shot.  
  
Makoto halted her next sentence about the  
  
girl who was wearing close to nothing and table dancing   
  
to the Bum Bum song like an idiot.  
  
Rei, Minako, and Usagi sobered quickly and   
  
folded their hands in their lap.  
  
"Yes, Artemis, sir," They chorused.   
  
Artemis looked taken aback. He threw back   
  
his shoulders and nodded shortly, "Well, then, on   
  
with the meeting."  
  
"Has anyone noticed anything off center,   
  
lately?" Luna asked.   
  
We shook our heads, and Minako shrugged, "I   
  
haven't even felt any negative energy around."  
  
Rei seemed to milling on something and   
  
sat up, "Well...I looked in the fire yesterday,   
  
and I couldn't get a thing out of it. I'm almost  
  
positive that it's hiding something from me, though."  
  
Minako quirked her brow, "Almost?"  
  
Rei shrugged, "Yeah. It's like it goes back  
  
and forth--it starts to open, and then closes up like  
  
it doesn't want me to see something."  
  
She creased her brow, "It's never done this  
  
to me before, and I guess it's kind of frustrating.  
  
Her inability to contribute much seemed  
  
to chipping away at her pride, and she let out a   
  
dejected sigh.  
  
"Sorry, minna."  
  
Usagi patted her back, "That's OK, Pyro.   
  
Everyone has their off days," She giggled at Rei's  
  
look of annoyance, but Rei seemed to relax a bit  
  
more afterwards.  
  
"Anyone else?" Luna peered at each of  
  
our faces, landing on mine last and hovering for   
  
a moment. I shrugged my shoulders, "Nothing yet, Luna."  
  
She sighed, "Well...alright then. Keep  
  
your eyes open, girls. Things can't stay peaceful   
  
forever."  
  
"That'd put us out of the job," Makoto said,  
  
leaning backwards onto the couch.  
  
Luna and Artemis looked at each other for a   
  
fleeting moment and nodded. They began their  
  
way over to the window.  
  
"We'll see you girls later. Artemis and I  
  
are going to check out city for anything suspicious."  
  
Usagi opened the window for them and they  
  
hopped out. She closed it against the gust of frigid  
  
wind that blew into her face and shivered.  
  
"Geez, it's cold out there," She mumbled  
  
under her breath.  
  
I sighed and stretched out the tight muscles  
  
in my arms and shoulders.  
  
Rei suddenly gasped and laughed excitedly, "Hey,   
  
you guys, I haven't told you yet have I?"  
  
Usagi shoved a handful of chips into her mouth  
  
and raised her eyebrows, "Tol' us whuft?"  
  
Rei eyed her overfilled mouth disapprovingly,  
  
but didn't hide the glow in her eyes, "That I made  
  
it!"   
  
"Could you be a little more vague, Rei?"  
  
Usagi asked.  
  
Rei glared at her for a second, "I told you guys  
  
that Juuban U was selected for that music competition, right?"  
  
We nodded, and she laughed again, "They held auditions  
  
last month for three contestants to compete--REMEMBER?"  
  
cricket  
  
"I can't believe you guys forgot!" She folded   
  
her arms over her chest, "Yeah, well, since it's obviously  
  
SO unimportant, I won't tell you that I was chosen to   
  
perform."  
  
Usagi threw down her bag of chips and tackled  
  
Rei in a huge hug, "OH MY GOSH, REI! THAT'S SO GREAT!!"  
  
Rei tried to swallow her laughter but failed.  
  
"Get off, Meatball Head!" She said, smiling widely.  
  
Usagi pried her arms from around her neck and sat  
  
back, "We're so proud of our little Pyro!" She exclaimed and  
  
patted the top of Rei's head.  
  
Rei growled underneath her breath and Usagi giggled  
  
nervously. The rest of us congradualted her with fervor,  
  
hoping she'd forgive our short-term memories.  
  
"So, ANYWAY," Rei said after Minako finished  
  
babbling excitedly, "It's in three weeks, and the winner  
  
gets..." She paused for added drama and Usagi practically  
  
hopped on her toes in anticipation, "10 THOUSAND dollars!"  
  
Usagi squealed in delight, and Makoto began to   
  
remind her of every time she'd lended her favorite senshi   
  
five bucks.  
  
Rei, who spent her weekends working part-time as a   
  
cocktail waitress to make extra money, was in desperate   
  
need for the cash. Her father had "graciously" offered her   
  
any financial assistance she might need after she graduated   
  
in a pitiful attempt to make up for eighteen missed birthdays   
  
and countless holidays spent away from his only child (I   
  
couldn't help but take part in her contempt for him).  
  
Rei, however, politely refused his offer.  
  
Her grandpa's face was priceless when her father   
  
returned the following day, broken nose and all, to replace   
  
the damaged door she'd slammed against his face.  
  
Surviving mainly on academic and vocal scholarships,   
  
along with a trust fund set up by her deceased mother,   
  
Rei had gotten by fairly well. But the money from her   
  
fund had run out and the scholarships weren't enough.   
  
Her determination to be independent impressed me, and I,   
  
along with the others, offered all the support we could   
  
give to her.  
  
Minako, however, was seldom found turning pants   
  
pockets inside out in search of extra change. Her flawless   
  
visage had graced the pages of magazines for a few years now,   
  
and Usagi still kept the entire collection of her Sailor V   
  
videos hostage in her bedroom if ever the need for blackmail   
  
arose.   
  
Minako was a natural, though. She took jobs as needed,   
  
and her faithful agent made sure nothing indecent showed up   
  
in places it, well...shouldn't. Usagi seemed most exuberant   
  
at having a model for a best friend. Perhaps that was because   
  
half of her wardrobe consisted of clothing Minako smuggled   
  
from shoots across seas.   
  
Once, on a rare shoot near home, she'd invited us all   
  
to the set to watch. The set for Cosmopolitan's Spring Fever   
  
issue reeked of sunless tanners and peroxide, but Minako looked   
  
every bit as kind-hearted and Minako-like in the string bikini   
  
with an array of baby-oiled men rubbing her down with sun   
  
tan lotion as she did decked out in her favorite rubber   
  
ducky pajamas.   
  
When the director had tried to squeeze Usagi, Rei, Makoto,   
  
and me into the shoot as well, we kindly refused, Usagi pouting   
  
slightly as Rei glared her away from him and his way-too-friendly   
  
glances.  
  
Makoto, chef extraordinaire, was currently on a full  
  
scholarship to Juuban U for culinary studies and fairing  
  
extremely well. She'd entered about a thousand cooking  
  
competitions over the last year or so, coming out victorious   
  
9 out of ten times.   
  
The money she won kept her in a comfortable financial   
  
spot, but she continued to cook in downtown Tokyo's "CRUZ   
  
DINER" where the over all populace consisted of hung over frat  
  
boys and the occasional clusters of afternoon shoppers during  
  
the day and rambunctious party-goers at night.   
  
She loved it. In fact, so did Usagi who waited tables   
  
there part-time while she slaved to maintain a B average at   
  
Juuban University where Mamoru was in close proximity at   
  
Tokyo University, an elite medical school and where I would   
  
be heading once I completed pre-med classes at Juuban U.  
  
Rei giggled in her excitement, beaming with pride as  
  
Usagi and Minako began badgering her with ideas for what she  
  
should wear and sing.   
  
She sighed, "I guess it pays to be beautiful and   
  
talented."  
  
Since I was the closest in proximity to a pillow at the   
  
moment, I took it upon myself to smack her upside the head   
  
for that comment.  
  
She laughed behind the mouthful of pillow, "Just  
  
kidding, minna-chan."  
  
Makoto jumped up and stretched her arms above her   
  
head, "I wanna go somewhere--somewhere withOUT alcohol, that is."  
  
Usagi vigorously nodded her head, and Minako leapt off  
  
of the couch and bounded over to the foyer where she yanked  
  
her white, knee length coat (AN: Think about that fabulous white  
  
jacket J.Lo wore in Maid in Manahattan; I would KILL for that coat!)  
  
over her baby blue sweater and pulled her gloves out of the   
  
pockets, "Let's go, minna-chan."  
  
She tapped her foot on the ground impatiently and  
  
waited for us to put on our winter apparel.  
  
An imaged of my unopened chemistry book filtered   
  
into my mind, and I had to bite down on my lip in order   
  
to keep myself from running into my bedroom and bringing   
  
it along for the trip. There were at least two chapters   
  
I hadn't read over yet.  
  
I longingly glanced down the hallway, but Minako saw  
  
and ushered me out the door without further discussion.  
  
"I'm going, I'm going, Minako," I picked up my pace  
  
as she nudged my back down the hallway and into the   
  
elevator.  
  
After about an hour of aimless wandering, we decided  
  
to grab something to eat. This, of course, lead to heavy  
  
debate between Rei and Usagi about where we would dine.   
  
We ended up going to two separate places all  
  
together--Minako and Rei stopping by a pizza stand, and   
  
myself, Makoto, and Usagi tackling the mile long line at  
  
"Tiki's Tofu."  
  
Usagi slurped a mound of noodles happily off   
  
of her chopsticks a half hour later, Minako and Rei   
  
having already finished their meals. I handed her a   
  
napkin absentmindedly when soy sauce splattered down   
  
her chin, and listened with one ear as Rei took it   
  
upon herself to bring it to everyone and their   
  
mother's attention.  
  
Each shop lining the busy streets of downtown   
  
Tokyo was elaborately decorated in white and red   
  
Christmas lights, and Usagi insisted on stopping   
  
and talking to every bucket-weilding Santa we   
  
encountered as we walked through the mass of   
  
shoppers and people scurrying to get in   
  
from the cold.  
  
I reveled in the feeling of the feathery   
  
snow as it rolled along my cheeks and stuck to my  
  
wool coat and scarf. Minako kept close tabs on  
  
any guys passing that were worth a second glance  
  
and pouted when a man of choice had a girl  
  
attatched to his arm.   
  
Makoto shared in her disapproval after   
  
she'd made a flirtatious pass at one blonde only   
  
to be embarrassed as he lifted up a shiny ringed finger   
  
and shrugged apologetically.  
  
"Oooo...REjected!" Rei laughed, and Makoto  
  
shoved her arm.  
  
"Hey, at least I'm trying. When was the last  
  
time you had a date, Miss Talented and Beautiful?"  
  
Rei's mouth flapped open and closed and she  
  
rolled back her shoulders with a huff.  
  
Makoto smiled at her victory and continued  
  
searching through the grounds for potential prey.  
  
Usagi broke the silence. "Is it me, or are anyone   
  
else's hands about to fall off?" She shivered to make her   
  
point more clear and we nodded in agreement.  
  
Minako cocked an eyebrow at Rei and Usagi grinned.   
  
Rei's mouth parted as if to speak, but Usagi quickly   
  
interupted her next words.  
  
"PLEAASE, Rei-chan? I'm...s-so cold," Usagi threw her   
  
hands to Rei's exposed neck and Rei flinched as the frozen   
  
flesh came in contact with her own, "And your temple is so   
  
very big and WARM."  
  
"No way, Usagi. If I do recall correctly, you   
  
spilled an avalanche of steaming MOCHA on my head and   
  
floor the last time you were there, remember?" She crossed   
  
her arms.  
  
"Oh, come on, Rei. It'll be fun. Where's your holiday   
  
spirit?" Makoto urged.  
  
"I don't know. I might have misplaced it when a herd   
  
of middle-aged soccer moms trampled me over last week to get   
  
to the latest shipment of Play Station 2 games!" She exlaimed.  
  
"Come on, Pryo," Usagi bent near her ear,   
  
"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle allll..."  
  
Rei lunged for her arm, but Usagi bounded   
  
away giggling madly.  
  
"THE WAY!!!" She screeched from a few yards away.  
  
Makoto, Minako, and I watched them as they jogged   
  
all along the sidewalks, weaving in and out of people's   
  
paths.   
  
"Damn kids!" An elderly man shook his fist  
  
angrily after Usagi knocked his cane out from under his  
  
hand.  
  
With a sheepish grin, she replaced his battered  
  
cane, and patted his arm, "You have a merry Christmas now,  
  
sir!"   
  
He continued to wiggle his fist in the air after  
  
she'd bounded off again, Rei hot on her heels.  
  
Minako giggled, "How old are they again?"  
  
Never too old, obviously.  
  
Makoto shook her head and began ogling over a   
  
set of kitchen knives on display in a window, "Do you  
  
realize what those babies could do a 4 lb. steak?"  
  
She continued to foam at the mouth while Minako  
  
laughed beside her. I made a mental note about those  
  
knives.  
  
Red-faced and panting, Usagi and Rei returned having   
  
given up on chasing each other due to the freezing temperature.   
  
They still nudged one another with their elbows every once   
  
in a while as we ventured down Tokyo's windy sidewalks.   
  
Rei finally caved in and said we could stay at the temple   
  
for the night, as long as Usagi didn't touch anything   
  
liquid or hot.  
  
Usagi pouted as we passed by Starbucks and sniffed.   
  
Rei stuck her nose up and shook her head 'NO.'  
  
Minako, however, did not send a cascade of mocha   
  
flying the week before and steered into the cafe, dragging   
  
me along for the ride.   
  
"Minako--Um, do you really need to bring me alo-OUCH!"   
  
I yelped as she twisted my arm in an awkward position.  
  
Makoto and Rei followed, Usagi pouting behind   
  
them. She despondently watched as we approached the counter.   
  
I felt sorry for her, and vowed to wait until Rei wasn't   
  
watching and slip her a hot chocolate.   
  
"Ah...warmth," Makoto sighed and sauntered up to the   
  
counter.  
  
I could hear Usagi whispering harshly to me from   
  
behind and assumed she was begging for me to do what I   
  
already had planned so I merely waved and winked at her.   
  
Dead wrong.  
  
My frozen face instantly melted as a wave of heated   
  
crimson washed over it. It was HIM. Standing in front of ME.   
  
Waiting for my ORDER.  
  
Makoto had finished rattling off her own order,   
  
making sure that he put extra whipped cream in her eggnog latte  
  
and a little cinnamon. She was always paranoid when others   
  
prepared food or drinks for her. She kept a watchful eye   
  
on the waiter who prepared her bevarage, pretending to  
  
be reading an advertisement for Buy Four, Get One Free   
  
cappuccinos on the wall.   
  
I sighed in relief when Minako stepped in front of me   
  
to place her order. I had a few moments to gather myself.  
  
Trying to tame my blush, I turned around to look at Usagi.  
  
She was smiling widely and winking. Rei eyed her critically,  
  
but she also seemed delighted at the situation at hand. I could   
  
see her eyes looking him over, and she seemed to recognize him.   
  
Lifting her hand, she gave me a thumbs up and smiled.  
  
I turned around again to avoid their gestures and he was   
  
staring back at me with an unreadable expression plastered across   
  
his flawless face.  
  
MAY-DAY!! MAY-DAY! INTRUDER ALERT!! INTRUDER ALERT!!  
  
A million warning signs blared throughout my head,   
  
bouncing off of my eardrums and back again repeatedly. I resisted   
  
the urge to clap my hands over my ears and hum out loud.   
  
Collecting myself enough to speak, I brought my eyes to   
  
the menu as a distraction from their previous travels.  
  
Minako nudged me and I looked at her. "Weren't you going   
  
to order?" She whispered. I glared at her and opened my mouth.  
  
"Um...two tall hot chocolates...please." I had one hell   
  
of a time trying to keep my unruly eyes from bulging from   
  
their sockets in order to get a closer look at him.   
  
Minako handed him our combined wad of cash.  
  
Now, all I have to do is make it out the door without   
  
dropping the tray and--  
  
"Haven't I seen you in here before? With that girl   
  
over there, right?" I was startled by his voice and jumped,   
  
dropping the set of keys I had been nervously fiddling with.   
  
They clinked to the floor and I felt the heat rise to my   
  
cheeks, settling onto the pink tint that had already risen  
  
there.  
  
Bending over, I gathered myself and my keys,   
  
replying as I rose again.  
  
"Um...yea, we were in here a few days ago--the girl   
  
was our friend, Usagi." He nodded and I grasped the   
  
cups he handed me.  
  
As our hands brushed, he spoke again and I was sure   
  
he could hear the pounding of my heart.  
  
"And do you have a name?" His tone was too confident   
  
for my liking and I felt intimidated by his self-assurance.  
  
"Yeah, it's...I mean, um..."  
  
I felt a sharp jab in my ribs.  
  
"Ami, my name is Ami." Thank you, Minako.  
  
Minako smiled genially, "And I'm Minako. Please   
  
excuse her, she's been studying way too hard lately."   
  
"Minako!" I harshly whispered and pinched her arm.  
  
"Ow! What did I do?" Her whisper's agitated tone   
  
rivaled my own.  
  
I ignored her question and tried to redeem myself.   
  
"What's your name?" Thank God that came out smoothly.  
  
"Zach." He looked amused at our antics and I blushed.  
  
"That sounds American...are you from there?" I asked.   
  
That's right, Merc, just let him do most of the talking   
  
and try not to make yourself look completely moronic.  
  
"Yeah, but I've lived here for 7 years."  
  
Minako smiled wide enough to reach her ears,   
  
her baby blues sparkling with whatever Minako-like   
  
schemes were brewing in her mind.  
  
I wasn't quite sure if my ears registered what he was   
  
saying--he could have been speaking in a foreign language   
  
for all I cared, as long as I could sit and watch.  
  
"...so I'm studying at Juuban U now." He concluded   
  
with a smile that melted the whipped cream right off of the   
  
cups of hot chocolate he had handed me.  
  
I dumbly nodded, busying myself with getting a few   
  
napkins from the dispenser and trying to look like speaking  
  
with incredibly attractive co-eds was a regular thing for me.   
  
Minako rubbed her arm and looked at me, "That's cool,   
  
isn't it, Ami? We both go there, actually," She grabbed   
  
her change, "Well, sorry to run, but our friends will be   
  
waiting. Say bye, Ames!"   
  
Once I snapped out of my trance I fought the   
  
urge to dump the contents of my cup on her head and   
  
managed a simple 'Bye' before calmly walking away   
  
with her.  
  
"Maybe I'll see you around campus, Ami?" I turned my   
  
head as I walked and smiled gently, "Maybe."  
  
"HEY, BUDDY! I TOLD YOU A PINCH OF NUTMEG! LOOK  
  
AT THAT!" Makoto furiously tried to leap over the counter  
  
to get at the exasperated waiter preparing her eggnog latte.  
  
"Miss, please--NO CUSTOMERS ALLOWED OVER THE COUNTER!!"  
  
The man backed up against the counter behind him, trying   
  
desperately to shy away from Makoto's swinging hands.  
  
"MAKOTO!" Rei intervened, pushing the red-faced Makoto   
  
away from the counter and taking her place.  
  
"Listen, um--Kai is it?" She looked at his name-tag,  
  
"Well, could you maybe make another eggnog latte, with a pinch  
  
of nutmeg for my poor, mental friend here?" She smiled charmingly,  
  
twirling a strand of raven hair between her fingers.  
  
Kai's smile was goofy and wavering as he dumbly nodded.   
  
Rei giggled in a way that was peculiarly Minako-like, "That's   
  
SO nice of you."  
  
A disgruntled Makoto glared at the waiter once more  
  
as he shakily handed her her beverage.  
  
I inwardly cringed. So far, Zach thought I was old   
  
and that I highered mental patients from the local asylum  
  
to pose as my friends.  
  
I stole another glance at him only to find his   
  
intoxicating green eyes were filled with amusement as   
  
he laughed openly at the scene Makoto had caused.  
  
"What are you looking at?" Makoto eyed every customer  
  
in the place with an evil glare as they stared at her, and they  
  
immediately shoved their noses back in their books or behind  
  
their cups of coffee.  
  
I was thoroughly embarrassed.  
  
"Makoto, let's GO," I grabbed her arm and tugged her  
  
out of the cafe before any lawsuits could be filed.  
  
The wind whipped around us as we exited, carrying   
  
flurries of snow along with it in trails of frozen white.   
  
The last rays of the sun kissed the horizon goodnight,  
  
and the moon yawned from its sleep, nestling into its position  
  
amongst a thick blanket of stars.  
  
My heart fluttered. FLUTTERED--like there were  
  
butterflies having a field day inside my stomach. When had  
  
that last happened? I shook my head, bewildered at the  
  
man behind the counter, and smiled to myself.  
  
The walk to the temple was mostly consistent of   
  
Minako and Usagi's animated conversation of movies to   
  
watch as we stopped at each of our houses to pick up   
  
the essential items we would need. I left a hurried note   
  
for my mother and prayed that she wouldn't try to cook.   
  
I hadn't replaced our fire extinguisher yet.  
  
Once en route to Rei's, I inhaled a deep gulp of the  
  
frigid night air and exhaled slowly. The face that had  
  
lingered behind my eyes for the past week finally had  
  
a name to go along with it.  
  
By the time we'd arrived, dancing green eyes were   
  
swirling around in my head, leaving me dizzy in the process.   
  
Thankfully, the night's events distracted me from my   
  
thoughts. Unfortunately, I wouldn't call them good   
  
distractions.  
  
Really, what is a "night with the girls" without a   
  
nice healthy game of Truth or Dare?   
  
Exactly the kind of night I wish I'd had.  
  
Laughing hysterically after our brief   
  
pop-corn war, we all settled down and changed   
  
into our pajamas. Rei 'quacked' under her breath   
  
when Minako emerged from the bathroom in her pajamas.   
  
She swatted at Rei's head with a pillow and   
  
affectionately pet one of the grinning yellow   
  
duckies over her stomach.  
  
We spread out extra futon mattresses on the floor,   
  
while Rei sat like the Martian princess she was upon her   
  
own bed.  
  
"Alright, ladies, you know what time it is."   
  
Makoto eyed us menacingly.  
  
"Snack time?"   
  
"USAGI!"  
  
Usagi doged a launched pillow and smirked.  
  
"I know what time it is," Minako smiled, "TRUTH OR DARE!"  
  
"Aren't we a little old for truth or dare,   
  
minna-chan?" Rei voiced. Makoto looked stricken and   
  
gripped the material of her sweat shirt over her heart.  
  
"Rei...how could you? Too OLD? NEVER," She   
  
dramatically fanned her face.  
  
"Got any better ideas, flame-breath? Maybe we   
  
could go and see if Yuuchirou wants to join our little par--"  
  
"No!" Rei exclaimed, launching herself up to cover   
  
Usagi's mouth, "And keep it down! I don't want him waking up."  
  
We giggled, Makoto recovering from her shock and   
  
kneeling beside me.  
  
"Heh heh heh...who will it be?" She gave each of   
  
us a cool stare and finally snapped her head in Rei's   
  
direction.  
  
"Miss Hino, since you were so enthusiastic about   
  
this," A devilish grin spread over her face, "choose your   
  
poison. Truth or Dare?"  
  
"Go ahead, Sparky, dare me," Rei straightened proudly.   
  
Makoto growled at her much-despised nick name.  
  
"I wouldn't have said that, I wouldn't have   
  
said that..." Minako sang, bringing her knees up to her   
  
chest in anticipation of Makoto's dare.  
  
Rei gulped, realizing her mistake.  
  
Makoto hid her glare and smiled sweetly.  
  
"Well...I've always been kinda curious as to   
  
whether Yuuchiro preferred boxers or briefs..."  
  
"NO! Makoto!" Rei's eyes widened considerably and   
  
Usagi stuffed her face in a pillow to smother her laughs.  
  
"I'm not done yet," Makoto sang, "I want you to   
  
go into his room, steal a pair of his underwear...PUT   
  
THEM ON and come back. You HAVE to put them on in   
  
his room, though. We'll be waiting right here."  
  
"That is SO unfair, Spar-Makoto!" Rei pouted.  
  
"Hey, a dare's a dare, and you HAVE to go through   
  
with it," Makoto said.  
  
Rei rose and grunted under her breath,   
  
"I'm gonna fry you alive for this, Makoto."  
  
Although Makoto said we'd wait for her, we   
  
couldn't just SIT there while she was performing   
  
possibly the most reputation-largely-at-risk dare   
  
ever. Quietly, we tip-toed outside to his window   
  
and peeked over the ledge. The biting chill was well   
  
worth it, I thought.   
  
Usagi pouted, hopping up and down in order to   
  
see over Minako and Makoto's much taller frames.   
  
They parted silently, and let her through. There was   
  
just enough moonlight to make out Rei's form.  
  
Rei hesitantly reached for his dresser   
  
drawer and jumped when Yuuchiro let out a loud snort.   
  
When he rolled over (facing us) and hugged his pillow   
  
closer she sighed and opened the drawer cautiously.  
  
"Oh, Rei, I love it when you hit me like that."   
  
Yuuchiro sighed happily in his sleep, and we had quite   
  
a rough time suppressing our giggles as Rei looked   
  
appalled at his statement.  
  
Triumphantly, she produced a pair of boxers and   
  
didn't bother to take the time to look at them closely   
  
as she frantically slipped them over her own pajama pants.  
  
We scurried back into the room before she could   
  
catch us and made it just in time.  
  
She strutted in wearing a smug smile and donning a   
  
pair of adorable red boxers complete with tiny pictures of   
  
a laughing Big Bird spread all over them.  
  
Our lungs practically burst as we laughed   
  
uncontrollably at the sight. Out of no where, a camera   
  
flashed and Rei stood dumbfounded for a moment before   
  
pouncing on Usagi.  
  
"USAGI! IF YOU DON'T HAND THAT OVER I'M GOING TO   
  
BURN YOU TO A CRISP!"  
  
"NOT ON YOUR LIFE, PYRO!" Usagi tossed the camera   
  
to Minako who safely stashed it in her subspace pocket.  
  
"MINAKO! YOU TRAITOR!"  
  
"And THAT is for video taping me drunken singing   
  
"Respect" at Melanie's graduation party on her COFFEE TABLE!"   
  
Minako declared.  
  
Rei sighed, defeated, and sent Usagi another   
  
death glare.  
  
"Alright, now it's MY turn."  
  
We held our breaths, sure that it would be Makoto.  
  
"I should pick Makoto for pulling that little stunt,"   
  
She paused to give Makoto a healthy dosage of her infamous   
  
Rei-glare, "but recent events must be taken into account...  
  
ODANGO? Truth or Dare?"  
  
Usagi's eyes widened and she bit her lip,   
  
"U-um...truth!"  
  
"Wimp..." Rei muttered beneath her breath.  
  
"Hey, I am NOT a wimp! Fine, dare me!"  
  
"Heh heh heh...gotcha! I knew your ego would   
  
get the better of you."  
  
"Hey! No fair! You tricked me!" Usagi exclaimed.  
  
"All's fair in Truth or Dare," We chorused.   
  
Usagi grunted and crossed her arms on her chest.  
  
"Alright...let's have it, pyro."  
  
Rei stood up and retrieved the telephone.   
  
"I want you to call Mamoru and tell him..."   
  
Rei reached over and whispered the rest in her ear and   
  
we watched as Usagi's eyes widened to the size of saucers.  
  
"REI! I can't do that! He'll FREAK!"   
  
"You have to, Odango. Here ya go," She handed her   
  
the phone.  
  
"Fine."  
  
Her fingers punched the numbers hurriedly as if   
  
she was afraid to go any slower for fear of not being   
  
able to finish, and she held the receiver to her ear.  
  
Rei punched the speaker key and Usagi glared at her.  
  
"Hello?" Mamoru's muffled voice answered.  
  
"Hey, Mamo-chan, did I wake you?"  
  
"Usako?" We giggled quietly at her blush.  
  
"Uh...yeah...um, Mamo-chan, I need to tell you s-something."  
  
"What is it? Is anything wrong?"  
  
Usagi sent Rei a pleading look and she shook her   
  
head as a command to go through with it.  
  
"Well, the thing is, Mamo-chan...I'm...I'm...  
  
I'm pregnant!" She squinted her eyes tightly.  
  
"ahem C-Come again?" Mamoru's voice had raised   
  
about ten decibels in pitch.  
  
"I said that I'm pregnant...Mamo-chan."  
  
I could practically hear crickets chirping   
  
outside the window during the dead silence the filled the air.   
  
We all subconsciously held our breaths waiting for the inevitible.  
  
"USAGI, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! WHO THE HELL IS THE FATHER?!"  
  
We collapsed into insane laughter at his rage   
  
and Usagi looked about ready to kill Rei who was clutching   
  
her stomach.  
  
After some calming words from Usagi, he settled down   
  
enough to listen. Rei's dare wasn't over yet.   
  
"And, Mamo-chan...the father is...M-Motoki."  
  
pause  
  
"WHAAAAAAAAATTTT?!"  
  
Usagi fell back at the sudden outburst.  
  
"You..a-and MOTOKI?! HE AND RIKA JUST GOT MARRIED!"   
  
He screeched.  
  
I could see the steam rising from the speaker as he   
  
raged on, trying to convince himself (aloud) that what his   
  
love had just told him could not be true.  
  
Usagi managed to squeeze in a few words between his   
  
frantic rambling, informing him of the evil Rei's dare.  
  
"Mamo-chan, I'm sorry! It was all Pyro's idea!"  
  
"Rei...it was Rei..." He repeated slowly,   
  
"No...baby...I don't have to murder Motoki?"   
  
I covered my mouth to stop the mad stream of giggles.  
  
Usagi finally found the humor behind the joke   
  
and laughed, "No, Mamo-chan. There is NO baby."  
  
I could hear him suck in an enormous gulp of air and   
  
exhale heavily.   
  
"No baby...no baby." He said a few times.  
  
"Hey, Rei," He said louder.  
  
Rei let a few more giggles escape before answering,   
  
"Yeah, Mamoru?"   
  
"The next time you decide it would be funny to   
  
give poor, over-stressed, med students a heart attack,"   
  
He paused, "DON'T."  
  
We collapsed into fits of laughter, and Usagi yelled   
  
her goodbyes to Mamoru, clicking the 'End' button and   
  
returning to her place on her mattress.  
  
"I should kill you for that," She said to Rei.  
  
"Try me," Rei countered.  
  
Before they could start fighting, Makoto reminded   
  
Usagi that it was her turn.   
  
"Alright...Ami-chan, I believe I saw you holding   
  
a tape recorder during that conversation." I cowered   
  
backward and laughed nervously. The plastic corner of   
  
Rei's tape recorder snuck out from beneath my blanket.  
  
"Truth or Dare?"  
  
"U-um...tr-"  
  
"Nuh uh, Merc, you always pick that! You leave   
  
me no choice but to enforce the 'Excessive Truth Law' on you."  
  
"But there is no such th-"  
  
I stopped as they all glared in my direction.  
  
"Fine. DARE me already."  
  
I watched in fearful apprehension as the corners   
  
of her mouth etched into a sly grin.  
  
"This is gonna be good." Minako eagerly rubbed   
  
her hands together in anticipation of Usagi's dare.   
  
"OK, Ami-chan, all you have to do is..."  
  
sigh yes, I made a sorry attempt at a cliff hanger   
  
just for YOU! :D   
  
now go and review or e-mail me!  
  
AdRiAL  
  
adrial06yahoo.com 


	4. 4 The Dare

HellLoOoOOoO everyone! Here's chapter 4 of "To Go, Please".   
  
It's a little shorter...OK it's incredibly short, but I promise to   
  
make up for it next time! I had to get out the whole dare thing   
  
and I wanted to do something important that made me cut it   
  
short. Please forgive me!   
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon OR its characters.  
  
TO GO PLEASE  
  
Author: Adrial  
  
Chapter 4: "The Dare" (revised)  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
TO GO PLEASE  
  
At times I ask myself what I ever did to the fates to   
  
make them despise me so. Honestly, I work diligently in   
  
school; I consider myself to be an understanding and reliable   
  
friend; I even recycle for goodness sake! But, nonetheless,   
  
these damned bolts of disrupting chaos are consistently being  
  
hurtled in my direction.  
  
Should I send them a fruit basket or something?  
  
I never will quite figure out why or how I went through   
  
with that dare. If there was ever one thing in my life that I   
  
could go back and change it would be that moment. But alas, I   
  
can not. Damn Fate. Damn Destiny. Damn them all.   
  
And while I'm on such a roll here, damn Usagi, too.  
  
I guess this is where I should actually describe my   
  
horrible "experience."  
  
"Usagi-chan, NO. I can't possibly! Are you insane?!"   
  
I ran both of my hands through my hair, horrified at the   
  
possibility of even entertaining the thought of doing...  
  
I shivered involuntarily.  
  
"After what happened tonight, you just expect me to waltz   
  
over there and do-do THAT?!" I could already imagine the scene.  
  
"All's fair in Truth or Dare!" They chorused simultaneously,   
  
and I threw the covers over my head, milling over all possible  
  
routes of escape.  
  
"Come on, Ami-chan! We've all done it before!   
  
It's YOUR turn," Makoto patted the top of my hidden head.   
  
I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming.  
  
"Don't be such a baby, Ames! You're acting like Usagi."  
  
I heard a loud thump and a cry from our fiery senshi.  
  
Giggling, Usagi pounced on to my bed to escape the   
  
pillow tossed violently in her direction.  
  
"You guys don't understand!" My voice was muffled   
  
beneath the light fabric, and I poked my head out for fresh air.   
  
" Of course we do! And believe me, we feel for ya."  
  
I sighed, "Thanks, Minak-"  
  
"HOWEVER, as we said, 'All's fair in Truth or Dare',   
  
and you HAVE to play fair, so get your gears in rear and   
  
let's move out!" Minako lifted her hand into the air, commander  
  
style, and leapt off of the floor.  
  
Normally, I'd have corrected her and would have,   
  
had the situation...well not been the situation.   
  
"Baka, it's get your REAR in GEAR. I swear, you and   
  
Usagi must be sharing a brain." Rei exasperatedly feigned   
  
annoyance and giggled when Minako and Usagi crossed their   
  
arms over their chests and stuck their noses in the air   
  
indignantly at the comment.  
  
By that time I was silently willing my nerves to relax   
  
and collecting my thoughts. There was no way to get out of it.   
  
I was stuck--again.   
  
Reluctantly, I removed myself from the tangle of linens   
  
and stood proudly on the cool wooden floor.  
  
"Alright then, let's get this over with."   
  
"Wahoo! Go, Ames! I knew you had it in ya! Hey, Makoto,   
  
got that camera? Minako, you got the chalk?" At their   
  
affirmative nods Usagi marched out of the room and into the   
  
frigid night.  
  
Rei sighed and Makoto counted down.   
  
"Three...Two...One."  
  
"Gahh! It's SOOO cold out there!" Usagi came bounding   
  
back through the door and dove under a stack of blankets.  
  
Rei rolled her eyes to the back over her head and whacked  
  
the hidden bulge in the sheets that was Usagi with a pillow.  
  
We emerged from the shrine 5 minutes later after putting   
  
on jeans, sweaters and jackets. Fortunately for us the temperature  
  
had managed to creep back up over the freezing point, and there   
  
was no snow to hinder our travel--Wait, I take that back.   
  
Fortunate for THEM.  
  
Mid-walk, I stopped abruptly, causing four disgruntled   
  
young women to collapse like dominos.  
  
"You guys, do we even know where he lives?" My spirits   
  
soared at the discovery of our short-coming of essential   
  
information, and I smugly turned back in the direction of the temple.  
  
"Too bad! I guess we'll just have to go back to th-"  
  
"NOT so fast, Ami-chan. You forget one thing."   
  
I eyed Rei curiously.   
  
She widened her eyes, "I know all. I see all. I hear   
  
all." Rei twisted her arms in "mysterious" angles around the   
  
top of her head, eyes, and ears and landed in a bowing position   
  
in front of me.  
  
At our disbelieving stares, she coughed slightly and   
  
reached behind her.  
  
"OK, so maybe I just happen to have the college's student   
  
directory handy..." She produced a blue paper-back booklet   
  
and shoved it in my face. "His full name is Braudell Zachary.   
  
He's in my lit. class."  
  
I threw her a glare and snatched the book from her grasp.   
  
Her smile was smug as I flipped through the pages to find the B's.  
  
"Gosh, it's like zero degrees out here! Why couldn't we take   
  
your CAR, Rei?" Usagi whined. Rei turned on her.  
  
"I don't know Usagi. Could it possibly be that SOMEONE   
  
who borrowed in order to mingle with a herd of inebriated jocks  
  
last night forgot to fill the tank up, therefore leaving it   
  
with no GAS?!" She eyed Usagi pointedly. Her breath puffed out   
  
in large clouds of white. Usagi shrank back, suddenly remembering  
  
what she forgot, and smiled nervously.  
  
Rei's sleek, red, automatic 2004 Nissan Maxima happened   
  
to be the only gift she'd accepted from her estranged father.   
  
It was a graduation present, and if she hadn't crashed her   
  
Shit Mobile, as she lovingly called it, the week before, she   
  
would have added a broken arm to his list of well-deserved   
  
injuries.  
  
I contemplated telling them Braudell Zachary wasn't   
  
listed, but quickly realized they wouldn't buy it without   
  
checking for themselves.  
  
'260 Jermaiah Lane.' He lived near the apartment   
  
complex Mamoru lived at. Good thing or bad thing? Who knows?  
  
Usagi definitely considered it a good thing and had   
  
to be reminded of the task at hand when she began fantasizing   
  
openly of a romantic 'moonlight rendezvous' with Mamoru.  
  
It took nearly fifteen minutes to reach his home and   
  
as each second flew by I longed to soar away with them into   
  
oblivion. This dare was cruel and unusual punishment.   
  
Usagi could have the darn tape back. She could have   
  
anything she wanted if she would just say I didn't have to go   
  
through with this.  
  
I eyed her silently to see if she held any semblance of   
  
sympathy for me.  
  
She was idly fiddling with a lock of her golden hair and   
  
smirked when Rei stumbled over a rock on the sidewalk.  
  
No luck there.  
  
Minako and Makoto were laughing about something   
  
I didn't hear, and I turned my eyes back to the cement.  
  
If I just linger back a little from the group,   
  
I bet I could slip away and catch a bus back to-  
  
"Hold it, ladies! We're heeerrrreeee." Usagi announced   
  
and sent a smirk towards me.  
  
"Heh heh..." was all I could muster.  
  
"Here ya go," Minako handed me the bag and I grumbled   
  
before grabbing it from her hand.  
  
"Could I have a little privacy, please?"   
  
"Oh come on, Ami-chan! It's not like you're gonna run   
  
around naked or anything," Rei said. Minako shivered and   
  
cowered back.  
  
"Rei! Don't remind me of our last sleep-over! I still   
  
have nightmares!"  
  
I took that opportunity to quietly open the steel gate   
  
and slip through.  
  
I set the bag down and said a silent prayer before   
  
gently opening it. Usagi said something about red being the   
  
most romantic color. Whatever.  
  
As each word formed I reminded myself of how incredibly   
  
stupid this was, not to mention dangerous for my reputation.  
  
One glance at my friend's expectant faces and I   
  
grudgingly completed my art-work on his driveway.  
  
I wonder if he's sleeping...it's only midnight.   
  
I almost wish Usagi had let me find out what undergarment   
  
he preferred...  
  
I smacked my fore-head and prepared to finish the   
  
rest of the dare. I eyed his front porch, a few empty cans   
  
of coke strewn haphazardously on the steps. I was   
  
supposed to knock and flee the scene.   
  
Great, we're reducing ourselves to the maturity level  
  
of pre-schoolers.  
  
I made sure no one was around and turned to the girls   
  
and gave them a thumbs up.  
  
But my enthusiastic thumbs wilted like daisies in a   
  
storm when I saw their faces--pure shock written across every   
  
contour, mouths hanging ajar.  
  
Knowing what to expect before I even turned around, I   
  
dropped my hands to my sides and faced the inevitable once again.  
  
"Um...Ami? What are you doing at my house?"  
  
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
  
Oh, geez...so lame, so very lame, but HEY--it's entertainment,   
  
right?  
  
stick with me, people! thanx 4 those who have reviewed! :D  
  
REVIEW or E-mail comments! ja!  
  
--Adrial  
  
adrial06yahoo.com  
  
"The longest day that God appoints   
  
Will finish with the sun.   
  
Anguish can travel to its stake,  
  
And then it must return."  
  
--E. Dickinson 


	5. 5 To My Aid

To Go, Please.  
  
Hello all! Be ready to be confused, deeply confused. And  
  
if you're not confused then CONRGRATS! But, unfortunately, your  
  
time will come, as well. :D   
  
And I don't know about you guys, but I hate when a sleep over   
  
ends on a bad note...but I had to do it anyways! So suck it up   
  
like I did, and enjoy chapter 5: "To My Aid".  
  
"The longest day that God appoints   
  
Will finish with the sun.   
  
Anguish can travel to its stake,   
  
And then it must return."   
  
--Emily Dickinson  
  
TO GO PLEASE  
  
Chapter 5: "To My Aid"   
  
Rating: PG13  
  
E-mail: adrial06yahoo.com  
  
In that instant my body froze up as if I had unleashed   
  
a shine-aqua illusion internally. I was completely helpless,   
  
caught red-handed (literally), and shaking with utter mortification.  
  
I barely heard him ask the question, and if I had any   
  
clue as to how to reply I couldn't have voiced it. My lips   
  
were pursed together and I just stood there...staring.  
  
After what seemed like hours, he repeated the question   
  
and cracked the ice sculpture that was my body.  
  
Heat flowed to my face and my head pounded mercilessly.  
  
Oh my gosh--he has no shirt on.  
  
No time for staring, Baka!  
  
I felt my lips thaw and knew I had to respond or he'd   
  
probably call the police.  
  
"Uh-I...the thing is-no-you see, it was just a-I didn't   
  
mean...what I mean is--" I handle humiliation like Usagi handles   
  
pop quizzes.  
  
I was about to turn and flee to the ends of the earth   
  
but at that moment the Gods decided to shed their light on   
  
the scene. Better late than never, ne?  
  
"Ami-chan! You baka, heh heh heh," Makoto rushed to   
  
my aid, "I told you not to drink all those wine coolers."   
  
She tsked motherly, and I managed to glare daggers at her.  
  
"Sorry about that, er, Zach, is it? Yeah, didn't   
  
mean to disturb your sleep. I'll just take my friend,"   
  
She tugged my arm and pretended to be helping me stand,   
  
"And we'll be on our way."  
  
"Come on, Ames, let's go get you some bread, OK,   
  
and maybe some nice hot coffee-UH, NO! Not coffee how   
  
about some...let's go!" I didn't have time to resist as   
  
she slung me around and down the porch steps. I managed   
  
to catch a glimpse of three more heads popping up  
  
beside Zach through the door way.  
  
Humiliation couldn't begin to describe it.  
  
With another fierce tug, I was dragged off by   
  
Makoto, past the chalk message, through the steel gates,   
  
and down the sidewalk, all the while hanging on her arm   
  
like a rag doll.  
  
She screeched to a halt as we rounded the corner   
  
of his street. The remaining three were staring at their   
  
toes, obviously trying not to look at me. I wasn't sure   
  
whether to hug Makoto fiercely and thank her a million   
  
times over, or freeze her into a Jovian ice sculpture.   
  
For a long, tense moment we all stood silent. Within   
  
my brain, my emotions were having a field day. The levels   
  
of humilation and anger threatened to exceed their maximum   
  
capacities. My eyes were closed tight, and I leaned against   
  
the wall of the building we were standing in front of.  
  
In my stupor, I heaved my body from its resting   
  
position and began to walk back to the temple.  
  
I didn't remember the rest of them following or if   
  
they even said anything at all. I kept my unblinking   
  
gaze on the road before me and just walked.  
  
My emotions brewed and bubbled turbulently, and   
  
had they not been so intensely mind-numbing, I might   
  
have acted on them.  
  
Instantly--or so it seemed--I stood in front of   
  
my futon in Rei's room and collapsed on to it with a dull 'Thump'.  
  
Without thinking, I grabbed a thick pillow,   
  
buried my head deep within it and let out a piercing   
  
scream/groan that lasted for at least ten seconds before   
  
I sucked in a large gulp of air and began breathing heavily.  
  
"A-Ami-chan? I know it doesn't help or anything, but   
  
I am so sorry. I never should have given you that dare."   
  
Usagi's words were thick with regret and sympathy, but in   
  
my current state I couldn't register her genuine concern.  
  
I remained silent and after they all voiced their   
  
apologies, the light flicked off, and I heard them crawl   
  
into their beds. Our party was over.  
  
For a while, I desperately fought humiliated tears   
  
and slipped away into a dreamless state of sleep.  
  
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
  
Reluctantly, my eyes cracked open only to snap shut   
  
again against the burning light of the sun flooding the room.   
  
Last night was a dream. I was only dreaming. Only   
  
a dream. Only a dream.  
  
I pulled the covers off of my body and crept off the   
  
bed and into the bathroom. My hands felt grimy and dirty   
  
and when I turned on the faucet to wash them I silently   
  
wondered where the pinkish-red gunk beneath my finger nails   
  
had accumulated from.  
  
I raised one hand to my face, and the dull scent of   
  
chalk wafted to my nose.  
  
"Ugh, this can not be happening to me." I gripped   
  
the sink and stared at my jeans and sweat-shirt. It hadn't   
  
been a dream. It was never a dream.  
  
I harshly scrubbed my hands until they were free of   
  
filth and reached for my tooth brush.   
  
Five minutes later, I emerged slightly refreshed and   
  
smelled breakfast cooking. All three futons were empty and   
  
I could hear muffled voices through the thin walls.  
  
I changed into my pajama pants feeling the need to be   
  
in comfy clothing at the moment.   
  
This is going to be a bad day.  
  
Padding across the hallway, I followed my nose to the   
  
kitchen where Makoto was standing by the stove stirring what   
  
would undoubtedly be our breakfast. Rei, Usagi, and Minako   
  
were gulping down orange juice and muffins at the kitchen table.  
  
Everyone froze when they saw me and waited for me to speak.  
  
"Good morning, Minna-chan," I pulled out a seat and   
  
plopped down in it, reaching for a glass of juice.  
  
This is what I'll do. I'll just pretend it didn't   
  
happen and everything will be OK.  
  
"Uh, Ami-chan? Are you feeling alright?" Minako's   
  
gentle eyes gazed at me quizzically.  
  
"Of course I am, Minako. Why wouldn't I be?" My smile   
  
was transparent and obviously fake because they still eyed   
  
me curiously.  
  
"Rei, could you pass me a muffin, please?" I held out   
  
my hand to her but didn't feel the warmth of a blueberry   
  
muffin in my palm.  
  
"Ami-chan, I know what you're doing, and bottling it   
  
all up is not going to change anything," Rei stared at me intently.  
  
I managed a sunny smile and replied, "I honestly don't   
  
know what you're talking about, Rei."  
  
"Ami-chan, come on. We know you're upset, and we want   
  
to help, because we know we're to blame," Usagi said.  
  
"Usagi, what do you mean we? It was YOUR stupid   
  
dare!" Rei glared at her over her OJ.  
  
"You guys, come on. I'm not angry with anyone. Usagi   
  
couldn't have known it would have turned out like that,   
  
and I have to deal with the humiliation on my own. Right   
  
now I am choosing to ignore it. Now, dear friends, after  
  
all you have done for me in the past 10 hours, all I am   
  
asking for is a MUFFIN. IS THAT TOO MUCH?!" Unbeknownst   
  
to myself, my words had escalated in volume and by the   
  
time I reached 'MUFFIN' I was steaming red and harshly  
  
gripping the edges of the table.  
  
Rei obligingly fulfilled my request, and I   
  
roughly tore it up, placing a few pieces in my mouth   
  
but leaving most on the table.   
  
With a loud 'CLUNK' my head fell to the table,   
  
and I covered it with my arms.  
  
Minako reached over and began rubbing my back   
  
comfortingly, and I just lay there, silent.  
  
Eventually, I rose and thanked them for worrying   
  
about me. I accepted their profuse apologies and said I   
  
needed to go home to think some more. Gathering my things,   
  
I hugged them all goodbye and descended Hiwaka's steps   
  
hurriedly.  
  
My shaking hands fumbled with my keys to unlock the   
  
door, and I tore into my apartment. I ripped off my book   
  
bag and plopped on to the couch. After a few comforting hours   
  
of soap operas--which I never watch--I climbed into my bed.   
  
Somehow watching the over dramatic display of emotions on   
  
"All My Estranged Children" eased the raging storm of   
  
feelings swirling in my head.  
  
Groggily, I flipped over in my bed and curled deeper   
  
into the cave of warmth I had created in my sleep.   
  
A blanket of hazy, silver light fell across my bedroom, and   
  
the weather report blarred from my radio which I'd left   
  
on from earlier that afternoon.   
  
"...all areas expect frozen roads. Ninety percent   
  
probability for a blizzard in downtown Tokyo. This is   
  
Wolfman with the weather for WKZ--"  
  
I killed the annoyingly chipper voice with my   
  
heavy hand.  
  
I longed to sleep for another hour or so and   
  
would have had my stomach not voiced its protests of   
  
emptiness rather rambunctiously. I let out a tired yawn   
  
and stretched my arms above my head eyeing my pajama bottoms.  
  
I walked home like this?! In my self-pity   
  
party on the way home from Rei's, I had failed to notice   
  
my powder blue PJ's.  
  
Sighing, I flipped on the light and combed out   
  
the mangled mop of blue that was my hair. My ears   
  
registered the distant sounds of water running and pots clinking.  
  
Mom's home.  
  
I grabbed a sweatshirt--now aware of the mild   
  
chill permeating throughout our apartment--and slipped   
  
it on while walking towards the kitchen.  
  
"Hey, Mom, you're home early tonight, ne?" I sat   
  
on a stool at our counter and folded my arms, smiling at her.  
  
"Hai, my patient canceled on me so I have the   
  
night off. How was your sleep-over, sweet-heart?" She   
  
untied her apron and wiped a colony of suds off of her   
  
cheek.  
  
My insides deflated as I remembered the events of   
  
the previous night. I forced a grin and swallowed the pang   
  
of remorse.  
  
"It was--eventful, to say the least."  
  
I stood up and curiously sniffed at a pot on the stove.   
  
My mother wasn't exactly Betty Crocker, but at least she tried.   
  
"I promise it's edible, dear--just some curry and rice."  
  
She chuckled slightly and wrapped me in a one-armed hug.   
  
"I think I'm going to eat and then go for a walk, Mom.   
  
That OK?" I spooned a generous amount of food on my plate and   
  
retrieved some chopsticks.   
  
"Sure, hon, just be back before it's too late.   
  
The last thing I need is to see my daughter on the missing   
  
persons list."  
  
I knew she was only joking, but she failed to hide   
  
the brief flash of worry that crossed over her eyes.  
  
"Mom, don't worry. I'm a big girl now." She patted my   
  
head softly and kissed my cheek, exiting the room.  
  
I practically inhaled my meal and paused to wonder   
  
if Usagi could have finished that quickly. I thought better   
  
of challenging her to an eating contest and placed my plate in   
  
the dishwasher.  
  
After changing into a pair of light flared blue-jeans   
  
and a long-sleeved shirt, I said bye to my mother and grabbed  
  
my jacket and shoes before trudging out the door.  
  
By the time I emerged from our building the sky was   
  
splashed with hues of foggy blues and gray, and a shadow of  
  
the sun's stay in the sky lingered beneath a thick cluster   
  
of silver clouds. By my fifth step the street lights flickered   
  
to life, earlier than usual due the over-cast skies.  
  
Not really following any particular path, I rounded   
  
a corner and headed in the direction of the Juuban U., my   
  
home away from home. Half-way there, I decided to visit the   
  
library and check out a book on Sir Isaac Newton for my physics   
  
exam. Three more weeks and five exams remained until winter   
  
break arrived.  
  
I could see the stone steps that would lead me into a   
  
vast sea of literature but stopped dead in my tracks at the   
  
eerie silence that suddenly filled the air.  
  
My hand automatically reached for my henshin pen, and   
  
my senses were alert, ready to do battle with any youma   
  
lurking about.   
  
My steps were soft and steady, as I tried to remain   
  
calm and collected in case any pedestrians happened to appear   
  
and question the odd girl walking around like Jackie Chan.  
  
Unfortunately, my eyes fell upon the ever-present   
  
Starbucks across the street, and I couldn't help but crane   
  
my neck to catch a glimpse of the person at the counter.  
  
I have to talk to him and explain last night,   
  
no matter how mortif-  
  
"Mmff--"  
  
Hard hands grabbed my face and pulled me backwards   
  
roughly. I didn't have time to register what was even   
  
occurring before another pair of hands twisted my arms   
  
backward and dragged me away.   
  
My lungs burned with every attempt to scream or   
  
release my arms from the foreign hands that held them, and   
  
shots of pain attacked my body.   
  
I inhaled sharply when the hand covering my nose and   
  
mouth shifted and grabbed my neck loosely. Immediately,   
  
I wished he hadn't taken his hand from my nose as an   
  
indescribably disgusting and foreign stench filled my   
  
nostrils.   
  
I kicked for a while until they anchored my legs,   
  
too.  
  
"Now, now, pretty little girl, we don't want you   
  
to get hurt," His sinister voice filled my ears and I   
  
shook with fear.   
  
"Let me go!" I writhed in their hold and he  
  
softly traced a line across my neck with something   
  
thin and sharp.  
  
"Don't move, bitch, or you'll be feeling more   
  
than this inside you!" His words caused my adrenaline to   
  
pump in over-drive and I silently prayed for help, hoping   
  
that my telepathic message would reach the senshi in time.   
  
Oh, God.  
  
His hands felt for my pant's zipper and I tried to   
  
kick away. I recognized the alley we were in from having   
  
transformed in it before, but transforming would be impossible   
  
with my henshin pen being currently tucked in my pocket   
  
out of reach.  
  
I could hear the tell-tale sound of a 'ziiip' and   
  
tears trickled down my cheeks. A hand muffled my screams   
  
once again as he fingered the hem-line of my underwear.   
  
One of the two men felt around my shirt and lifted it up   
  
with his grimy hands which felt scaly and calloused   
  
on my exposed skin.   
  
My insides churned and threatened to regurgitate   
  
a load of curry. Pure, utter disgust coursed through   
  
every nerve and fiber of my being, and my back shivered as   
  
it came in contact with the icy coolness of a brick wall.  
  
Please, God, someone help me.  
  
I heard him undo his pants and he rubbed against me.   
  
I could feel hands on my chest and I writhed with all my   
  
might.  
  
I stopped my futile attempts to escape and tried to   
  
find an opening to attack. It came when the man had to shed   
  
his pants and released his hold slightly on my right leg.   
  
With all my might I jammed it into his exposed groin and   
  
grunted as it hit its intended target, and he moaned   
  
loudly in shock and pain.   
  
I wasn't out of danger yet, and his partner gripped   
  
my arms harder and cursed at me. He pinned my legs with   
  
his own. His towering form intimidated me, and I cowered   
  
back as he raised the knife to my neck again.  
  
The victim of my knee rose and punched me viciously   
  
across my left cheek. The agonizing pain spreading over my   
  
face sent me into mild shock, and I was close to fainting.  
  
As I reached the brink of unconsciousness, I tasted   
  
blood in my mouth and let my head go limp. I could feel   
  
him advancing on me. Senshi...please...  
  
I used up my final hope. If the senshi didn't get   
  
my message, it was over. My vision blurred and their voices  
  
merged together in muffled dialogue.  
  
Before I succombed to the abyss of darkness lurking  
  
behind me, my vision exploded in a burning blue light that   
  
made my body quake with an unknown emotion and my heartbeat  
  
trob in my chest. As soon as the foreign sensation came, it  
  
dissolved into the frigid night air surrounding me, and my  
  
body buzzed slightly.  
  
"...alright, didja catcha that light? She's nearly there;   
  
now we'll let Myor-"  
  
Fearing the worst, I felt his hands move and loud   
  
grunts. I thought for a moment that he had entered my body   
  
and I was too delirious to feel it.  
  
When my arms were let go and my legs unpinned, I   
  
knew something had either gone terribly wrong or extremely   
  
right. I opened my clamped eyes and saw a mass of arms and   
  
legs, kicking and punching. I could make out the top of   
  
one of the heads through the blur of flailing body parts.   
  
Blonde. I thought. Another face, unfamiliar to   
  
my frightened eyes, was also amid the scuffle.  
  
My arms were throbbing madly, but the pain on my   
  
face practically trippled that amount.   
  
I stood, gaping at the scene before me. I knew I had   
  
to help them somehow; my attackers were quickly gaining the   
  
upper hand. I forced my body to forget the throbbing pain   
  
and searched for a weapon. My eyes landed on a discarded   
  
load of garbage, and I rummaged for anything to use as a   
  
weapon.   
  
Poking out underneath a slab of cardboard was a   
  
rectangular box, and I didn't bother to see what it was. As  
  
long as it was big, heavy, and capable of doing bodily harm,  
  
I had nothing to complain about.  
  
Armed, I thrust it at the man responsible for the   
  
throbbing of my face and with every ounce of strength, brought   
  
it down on his neck. His hold on Zach's arms was released   
  
and he wriggled out of his grasp to face the other man.  
  
I slid down the wall of the alley where only minutes   
  
before I had been brutally assaulted and nearly raped. My hands   
  
numbly zipped up my pants while the other man who's face I couldn't   
  
place finished off the second man with mild difficulty.  
  
Disheveled, panting, and bleeding slightly, Zach knelt   
  
by my side and reached for my arm. I stared at him for a moment,   
  
letting the river of salty tears steadily descend my cheeks and   
  
splatter on the ground.  
  
He gently touched my unharmed cheek and I fell against his   
  
chest, sobbing out my pain. My lips formed 'thank you' a million   
  
times, but they came out muffled and broken.   
  
My senses felt a burn within my heart, and before I  
  
could ponder it, he moved to stand, raising my with him.  
  
"Ami, are you OK?" As he stood there dirty and lip   
  
bleeding, I gazed at him, taking in his presence and thanking   
  
God for answering my plea yet again. His left hand gripped   
  
his right shoulder, and his teeth gritted in pain. I gasped   
  
and touched it with my own.   
  
For a moment he seemed to relax. His luminous green eyes widened.   
  
I realized what I was doing and wretched my hand from his shoulder   
  
and wincing when his face screwed up with pain again.  
  
"Are you alright?" I squeaked, wondering what on earth   
  
made me so deserving of this horrible moment. His companion,   
  
a tall, built male with strikeningly grey eyes and almost   
  
identical platinum blonde hair stood beside him, his face a mask   
  
of concern. I felt utterly grateful for their presence.   
  
He merely shrugged and told me it was nothing.  
  
"What the hell...?"  
  
I gasped, and Zach pushed past his friend's shocked face.  
  
"Where'd they go?" He whipped his head around the empty   
  
alley and cursed underneath his breath. He returned to me,   
  
looking as if he'd been defeated all over again and gently   
  
placed his hand on my arm.   
  
I sniffed and wiped my face, careful of my bruised and   
  
bleeding cheek. When he asked if I was alright again, I nodded   
  
shakily. Swirls of black were invading my vision, and the pain   
  
in my head became unbearable.  
  
"I-I'm fi-," Was all I got out before I fainted, going   
  
limp against his body.  
  
Gentle beeps filled my ears, awaking me from a restless   
  
slumber. I inhaled sharply and stale air swept into my lungs,   
  
tasting mildly of medicine and anesthetics.  
  
Hospital...I'm in the hospital. Why?  
  
Scene by scene, my attack came charging back at me,   
  
spilling into my vision like oil, and I clamped my eyes   
  
shut, trying to block them out.  
  
As they passed, I gazed at my surroundings. A stirring   
  
form near my bed drew my attention and I took in the sight of   
  
my mother. Stains of tears covered her cheeks and she held a   
  
wad of tissue in her hand.   
  
My voice cracked as I spoke, "Mo-om."  
  
She bolted up from her half-sleeping state and rushed   
  
to my side.  
  
"Oh, Ami, dear! I was so worried, are you OK? I'm so   
  
sorry, Ami-chan. I knew I shouldn't have let you go--oh, my   
  
precious baby girl," She fought the tears as they spilled over   
  
her lids and I lost the battle I was waging against my own.  
  
Her hand gently brushed my unharmed cheek.  
  
"Mom...it was so horrible...th-they wouldn't let me go   
  
and I tried, Mom, I did--they just..wouldn't let me..go,"   
  
I dissolved into tears in her arms, ignoring the throbbing   
  
in my face.  
  
After a few minutes, my tears subsided and I was able   
  
to breathe evenly.  
  
"Sweetie, it wasn't your fault, you couldn't have   
  
stopped them. If it hadn't been for those boys-"   
  
Zach.   
  
I remembered him holding me...his bleeding   
  
lip and shoulder...and his eyes--so worried, and his friend.  
  
"Where are they? Where'd they go?" I twisted my head   
  
painfully and looked around the room. Empty.  
  
"Don't worry, darling, they're both fine. The doctor   
  
had to clean up one of their lower lips, and bandage his   
  
shoulder--it was only twisted--but he'll be just fine, and   
  
the other managed to only get a bruise over his eye." She   
  
stroked my hair.  
  
"Can I see them? I need to see them, Mom."   
  
"I'll send them in, Ami-chan. Are you sure you're up   
  
for visitors? You really need to rest after s-something like..."   
  
She wiped her eyes harshly.  
  
"Mom, I'm OK, really," I lied. I wasn't okay.   
  
I was beaten, tired, terrified of what happened, and aching   
  
with the need to see Zach and find out who his nameless friend was.  
  
She gazed at me intensely for a moment.   
  
"Alright, sweet-heart, but not for more than   
  
10 minutes. I want you to get plenty of rest."  
  
With one more long glance at me and a slight   
  
squeeze of my hand, she departed and seconds later   
  
his form filled the doorway.  
  
"Ami..." Zach let my name linger in the air and   
  
slowly walked to my bedside.  
  
"Zach...thank you--for saving me today." My cheeks   
  
flushed and I looked away timidly.  
  
"Ami, I-I couldn't have let them hurt you," He   
  
grasped my hand, and I felt a wave of calm wash over me,   
  
"I mean...we...wouldn't let them..." He trailed off.  
  
My eyes met his in an intense gaze. I took notice   
  
of my other savior's absence.  
  
"Where's...where's the other guy?" I looked around,   
  
my true motive being to get away from his alluring gaze.  
  
He grinned, "He had an exam." He laughed slightly   
  
and squeezed my hand.  
  
"That's just like Kyle. The man could get hit by a   
  
4-wheeler, have both of his arms chopped off, and bounce   
  
right back in two seconds."  
  
"He was here, though, before, when you were sleeping,"   
  
He idly ran his thumb over my knuckles, completely obvlivous   
  
to the sparks that were shooting up my arm at this gentle motion.  
  
I smiled a small, sad smile, "I wanted to thank him, too.   
  
I owe you guys everything."  
  
His eyes darkened, "I'm sorry we didn't get there sooner.   
  
Maybe this wouldn't have happened," He ran his fingers around   
  
my cheek, barely touching its surface but enough for a pang of  
  
pain to shoot through my face.   
  
"Sorry," He noticed my wince.  
  
"It doesn't matter. I don't know what would have   
  
happened if you two hadn't have shown up when you did,"   
  
I tried not to picture it, but it filled my vision nonetheless.  
  
"H-How did you know?" I said softly.  
  
"Well...actually, Kyle and I were heading home--  
  
he needed to grab his notes for the exam and Matt had   
  
been preaching about no one taking the garbage out--but   
  
anyway, we passed the library and there you were...and   
  
those two bastards," He paused to wipe a tear from my face,   
  
his eyes filled with something acutely identical to a Rei-glare,   
  
not directed at me, of course, but more likely the memory of   
  
my attackers.  
  
"If I could have, I would have killed their sorry asses   
  
for doing that to you, Ami. You didn't deserve that, no one   
  
deserves to go through that."  
  
I turned my hand in his so that I was holding his   
  
instead and squeezed.  
  
He smiled--a smile I instantly melted at.  
  
Crimson drowned the regular coloring of my face and   
  
my heart sped up considerably.  
  
"How's your shoulder doing?" I blurted, relieved to   
  
find something to keep me from sighing loudly in happiness.  
  
He fingered it slightly and flinched, "It hurts like   
  
hell, actually," His rich chuckle danced with my soft laughter   
  
in the air before dissolving into an uneasy silence.  
  
"I-I better go now. You're probably dying to   
  
go to sleep."  
  
As much as every nerve in my body begged for him to stay,   
  
I had to admit that I was fighting a losing battle against   
  
consciousness.   
  
"Yeah..." I returned his grin as much as my throbbing   
  
cheek would allow, "Tell Kyle that I said thank you a million   
  
times, and good luck on his exams."  
  
Zach looked at me with a look of...adoration? No...couldn't be.   
  
For a minute, I felt a pang of longing for him to envelope me   
  
in his arms, and kiss away the pain in my face and my heart.   
  
"Um, just one more thing, Ami-chan." He looked at me smiling,   
  
and his tone was smug.  
  
I nodded, urging him to go on.  
  
"What kind of beans do you prefer?"  
  
Huh? Instantly, I realized his meaning and gasped, feeling   
  
the ever-present flush flood my features.  
  
His soft chuckle lingered in the air long after he   
  
disappeared from the door frame, and I rubbed the place he'd   
  
kissed on my cheek before leaving.  
  
The image of my message on his driveway floated in front  
  
of my eyes.  
  
'YOU CAN GRIND MY BEANS ANYTIME, COFFEE BOY!'  
  
Ugh.  
  
I fell back on my bed but couldn't contain a stream   
  
of giggles caused by the mere stupidity of the words on his   
  
driveway and the feeling of having finally talked to him.   
  
Although, it only took a near-rape and a soft-ball sized lump   
  
on my face to get there.  
  
"God...what if I have to break my leg for him to kiss me?"  
  
"What was that, dear?" My mother had just re-entered my room.  
  
"Nothing, Mom."  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
Man, this chapter SUCKED, I know. But I promise promise promise  
  
promise PROMISE that there is a reason for EVERYTHING that has gone  
  
on so far in this fic, and that it will get a million and one times  
  
better! :D   
  
REVIEWS PLEASE!  
  
adrial06yahoo.com 


	6. 6 Stalkers and Empty Corridors

Hey! Here's chapter 6, hope ya like it!   
  
disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or it's characters.   
  
This chapter is where everything FINALLY gets set into   
  
motion. Hope you guys like! I must apologize for that last  
  
chapter; it's never been my favorite, but it was totally and  
  
completely necessary so, well, let's just forget about it and  
  
move on until it gets closer to the end, eh? :)  
  
For those returning readers--BIG change is this chap. Ten  
  
cookies for whomever spots it first!  
  
TO GO PLEASE  
  
Chapter 6: Stalkers and Empty Corridors  
  
Author: Adrial  
  
Rating: PG  
  
E-mail: adrial06yahoo.com  
  
TO GO PLEASE

------------------------------

Cruel hands grabbed my body, pulling me into darkness.   
  
My mouth hung open in a silent scream as I tried to run in the   
  
opposite direction. They wrenched me backward again and I lay   
  
limp with exhaustion. A voice pled with me to try to escape   
  
but before I could see the owner's face I was swept beneath a   
  
current of inky blackness.   
  
Clouds shifted from behind my vision, but I didn't open  
  
my eyes. There were voices, crying out desperately for someone,  
  
and I felt myself moving somehow towards them.  
  
In a brutal assualt, waves upon waves of different emtions  
  
barreled into my mind.  
  
Hurt. Agony. Hope. Fear. Pain. Exhaustion. Regret. Loss. I   
  
cried out for them to stop, but with each new cry from the darkness,  
  
I felt as if I were responsible for it all.   
  
Whispers of light flew across my blackened vision and I   
  
parted my eyelids cautiously, but only caught a glimpse of a crystal  
  
blue gaze and wisps of fine, dark hair billowing about me, touched by a   
  
silver glow. I wanted to follow this being, this elusive dream creature that felt so real to me as if I'd seen them before, but he or she or it   
  
was gone before my mind would let me, and I cried out for them.  
  
Faint cries surrounded me, explosions rocked my body, sobs  
  
struck my ears and my heart. And at last a flickering light, blue and  
  
pure flashed before my eyes as I was submerged in the darkness  
  
once again, cold and empty like the lonely night that...  
  
Panting and drenched in clammy perspiration, I leapt from   
  
my laying position and twisted my head around the room violently,  
  
searching for a shadow, a form of some kind. The only shadows were  
  
that over passing nurses walking lethargically outside of the window  
  
near the door. I sighed and waved a hand over the film of sweat   
  
prickling on my brow.  
  
'...cold and empty, like the lonely night that-that what?" I   
  
fought to remember what came next. I felt as if I should have known.  
  
Those voices. They called for me, I knew they did. Had I been there?  
  
Black hair and blue eyes haunted my vision.  
  
My eyes filled with fearful tears and I suddenly felt   
  
claustrophobic. I had to get out of the room.  
  
Scurrying to pull back the thin covers, I unsteadily   
  
stumbled towards the door and cracked it open. Darting my   
  
eyes around, I searched for a familiar face and found it in   
  
my mother. She stood at a counter, tired eyes gazing at a   
  
stack of papers. I uttered her name softly, and she turned   
  
to me, startled.  
  
"Ami-chan! What are you doing up? What's the matter,   
  
dear?" She reached to pull me into her arms and I could not   
  
protest their warmth for I felt so utterly frozen with fear.  
  
She steered me back into my room, which surprisingly no   
  
longer felt quite as small to me with her there.  
  
We sat on the bed for a long while; I fought to control  
  
my emotions desperately, ignoring her inquiries of what had   
  
brought me out of my bed rather than risking the memories of   
  
it all. She sighed, giving up I assumed, and placed a soft kiss  
  
on my forehead.  
  
"Ami-chan, it's all over now. They can't get you   
  
anymore."   
  
I willed myself to believe her and nuzzled deeper into  
  
my covers, seeking comfort in the thin lay of linen and my mother's  
  
palm which rested on my hand, stroking it comfortingly.  
  
My eyes fell shut and I asked her to stay with me until   
  
I fell asleep once again. She pulled a chair to my bedside never  
  
releasing my hand as a dreamless slumber claimed my body.  
  
I awoke hours later to daylight streaming through the   
  
window. The blinking clock next to my bed read 9:17AM and I   
  
let out a painful yawn, wincing as my cheek protested at the   
  
wide movement.  
  
My mother was setting out some clothing on a desk and   
  
she turned to me.  
  
"Hi, sweetie. How are you feeling?"   
  
I smiled weakly and sat up.  
  
"Better. Can we go home now, Mom?" I realized how   
  
uncomfortable I felt in the paper-thin hospital dress and   
  
stale aired room.  
  
"Hai, I brought you some clothes to change into.   
  
They're over on the desk and when you've finished I believe   
  
there are four extremely anxious young women about to beat   
  
down the door to see you."  
  
I giggled softly and accepted the bundle she handed me.   
  
After she closed the door, I pulled on the jeans and shirt   
  
and reached for my jacket and shoes.  
  
I expected a stampede and was not disappointed as I   
  
cracked open the door and walked a few paces toward the waiting   
  
area.  
  
"AMI-CHAN!" Multiplied four times by my friends, my name   
  
echoed off the pink, floral wall-papered walls riotously and I couldn't   
  
help but laugh.   
  
They surrounded me in a huge hug and words of comfort   
  
flowed from their mouths at a 100 mph.  
  
I got the general idea from their hurried voices and assured   
  
them that I was all right, just tired.  
  
Makoto's eyes landed on my swollen cheek and she pounded her   
  
fist in her hand.  
  
"Ami-chan, if they would have let me get at those jerks I   
  
would have fried their asses a long time ago."  
  
I contemplated whether or not to agree with her, but decided   
  
that I didn't need one of my best friends behind bars for assault.  
  
"Thanks, Mako-chan, but I'm pretty sure they've been roughed   
  
up quite a bit already," They eyed me curiously and I realized that   
  
they probably didn't know who saved me.  
  
"Who exactly is responsible for that, Ami-chan?" Usagi began   
  
to smile, probably already guessing the answer.  
  
I blushed slightly, "Z-Zach."  
  
A chorus of "Oooh's!" sounded and Minako nudged me.  
  
"So, coffee boy to the rescue, huh?"  
  
I chose to ignore that.  
  
"And there was one other..." They quirked their eyebrows,   
  
"Zach's friend, Kyle, but I never got to really meet him. He had   
  
exams...," I trailed off, "Look, I'll fill you guys in later, but   
  
before we leave, I have to ask you a question," Ceasing their   
  
giggling and nudging, they looked at me.  
  
"Yeah, Ami-chan?"  
  
"Well, during my...attack...I sent you guys a telepathic   
  
message telling you that I needed help. Where were you?"  
  
I waited for their answer and watched looks of surprise   
  
flash over their faces followed closely by understanding.  
  
"Why don't we wait until we're alone to talk about it,   
  
Ames?" Rei gazed around at the busy people milling around us and   
  
I understood that it had something to do with senshi business.   
  
I nodded and let them lead me to the door. My mother wrapped up   
  
her paper work and joined us.  
  
I said 'bye to them once we got outside and promised to   
  
meet them at 8:00 at the temple to talk that night.  
  
My mother and I spent the day going over the painful   
  
experience of the previous night and I felt considerably better   
  
after talking about it with her. We finally connected on a level   
  
that had nothing to do with my being a senshi. Our conversation   
  
ended with an explanation of the "cute boys" who saved me and   
  
where on earth I had picked them up.  
  
"They didn't make them that cute when I was in college...  
  
what?"  
  
"Nothing, Mom."   
  
A few awkward pauses and heavy blushing later, and   
  
we finally decided to order out instead of cooking. Somehow   
  
gossiping with my mother over an extra-cheese pizza oozing   
  
with grease with a gaurantee of clogging our arteries put me   
  
in a calm place where I could relax and come to terms with   
  
what had happened. Just add it to the list of things for time   
  
to smooth over.  
  
My mother insisted on driving me to the temple, and I   
  
wasn't exactly going to say no after what happened.  
  
I bid her goodbye and walked up the steps, anxious to   
  
find out what had happened while I was pinned to a wall.  
  
I walked through the door and removed my shoes and   
  
jacket, welcoming the sudden blast of warmth. The blizzard warning   
  
had been surprisingly accurate, and a few flakes of white   
  
powder shook off of my jacket as I removed it.  
  
"Rei-chan? You here?" I called out to the empty room.  
  
"Yeah, Ames, we're in my room!" I followed her voice   
  
and walked to her bedroom where all four of them looked to   
  
be in deep discussion about something.  
  
"Hey, minna." I smiled at them. Usagi stood and   
  
embraced me, her eyes filling with contained moisture.   
  
They were melancholy tears, tinged with regret, and I hugged   
  
her tighter.  
  
"I'm alright, Usa-chan, don't worry."  
  
"I know...I know, but we should have been there," She sniffed.   
  
I shrugged, "Well, no offense, but being saved by two   
  
extremely attractive guys kind of beats you guys popping in   
  
to save the day in mini-skirts."   
  
Usagi gasped and the others burst into laughter.   
  
I had no idea what possessed me to say that. It was SO   
  
un-Ami like...but OH so very true.  
  
"You sure you didn't hit your head, Ami-chan?" Usagi   
  
sputtered through giggles.  
  
I plopped next to Minako, accepted her hug, and the   
  
glass of hot tea offered by Makoto. Rei looked at me and   
  
something passed between us. An understanding of some sort.   
  
I smiled warmly at her.   
  
"So, minna, what's up? What happened yesterday?"   
  
I asked, dying to know why they hadn't heard my plea for help.  
  
Rei lead the explanation.  
  
"We were in downtown Tokyo fighting a gang of youma.   
  
And it wasn't your everyday run-of-the-mill youma, either.   
  
It was like...SUPER youma," She winced in remembrance of   
  
the battle.  
  
I gasped, "What happened? Are you all OK?" I   
  
bit back the anger at having not been able to be there to help.  
  
"Well, we did OK, but Usagi has one hell of bruise on   
  
her thigh, and Minako barely missed being turned into a   
  
pile of Venusian ashes."   
  
Usagi gently rubbed her thigh and winced slightly.  
  
"I'm so sorry I couldn't be there, guys," I looked   
  
down at my hands.  
  
"Oh, no, Ami-chan! Don't be! We handled them. You   
  
shouldn't be thinking about that anyway," Usagi looked at   
  
me, worried again.  
  
"We should have been there for you, Ami-chan. I don't   
  
know why we couldn't get your message. Maybe the youma   
  
interfered with our thoughts or something," Makoto took  
  
my hand and offered a look of regret.  
  
"Thanks, Minna-chan."   
  
"Hey, you shoulda seen Tuxedo Kamen!" Rei dissolved   
  
into giggles, "He tried to throw a bouquet of roses at this   
  
one youma that was like a generator or something gasp   
  
and it spit them right back out gasp and up his ASS!"   
  
Rei and Minako fell on top of each other, quaking with   
  
laughter. I couldn't help but join in.  
  
Usagi pouted and stood up, "HEY! You guys didn't   
  
have to stay after and help him REMOVE the stupid things!"   
  
She placed her hands on her hips before joining in our laughter.   
  
We talked for about an hour, similar to my mother's and   
  
my talk earlier, and I felt even better after that, although   
  
I blushed quite a bit more during their conversation.   
  
"Well, at least we know that Zach has it bad for our   
  
little Ami-chan," Minako smiled deviously.  
  
As if on cue, I blushed deeply and denied the comment.  
  
"He does not, he just did what any other decent person   
  
would have done."   
  
"Uh huh, sure," Minako waved her hand as if to dismiss   
  
the thought.  
  
Desperate to change the subject, I turned to Rei.  
  
"So...uh, Rei, how's the concert thing going? Five more   
  
days...," I watched as she smiled energetically as if harboring   
  
a secret.  
  
"Well...actually there's been a little change in plans.   
  
The record company turned it into a ball theme/talent competition   
  
and decided to move it down three weeks," She clapped her   
  
hands together in excitment, "and there are going still   
  
going to be three acts performing. MTV Japan is sponsoring   
  
and they upped the grand prize to..." She took a dramatic   
  
pause, "Fifty grand!"  
  
Collective gasps.  
  
"Damn girl, after you win, I believe you still owe me   
  
ten thousand," Makoto joked, receiving a mock-glare from Rei.  
  
Usagi bounced like a little child in her enthusiasm.  
  
"This is fab-u-lous!" Usagi sang, "I know you'll win,   
  
Rei-chan! It'll be like prom all over again! I have to   
  
invite Mamo-chan."   
  
"You sure he won't still be sitting on a pillow by then?"   
  
"REI!"

----------------------------------------------

The next day at the mall was devoted to many hours  
  
of frantic dress hunting, as we all had exams the following  
  
couple of weeks and needed to devote our time to studying (or  
  
at least, that was my excuse). We'd each managed to select  
  
a fantastic gown after 6 long, dreary hours. I juggled my  
  
icey blue selection under my arm and vowed never to set  
  
foot into a mall with Minako or Usagi ever again.  
  
Fat chance. I mused.  
  
Before I knew what was happening, I bumped hard against   
  
Usagi who'd stopped to admire a litter of puppies through a pet   
  
shop window and fell forward. I could see Usagi trying to grab   
  
for me like it was in slow motion and waited for the tiled floor   
  
to connect with my still sore cheek. But, thanks to the powers  
  
that be, I fell directly into an unsuspecting passerby's arms. Need  
  
I mention his name?  
  
"Nice to see you again, Ami-chan," I didn't have to turn   
  
my head to see the snickering going on behind my back.   
  
I can't believe I did that...man, does he work out?   
  
Oh...muscles--wait, where am I again?  
  
"Heh heh, sorry about that," I sent a glare to Usagi who   
  
high-fived Makoto surreptitiously from behind her back.  
  
He bent over to pick up my bag and behind him Rei was   
  
mouthing 'Ask him out!' and waving her arms frantically.  
  
My head shook 'NO' so fast that I gave myself a head-ache,  
  
and mouthed 'ARE YOU CRAZY?!'  
  
She nodded.  
  
I shook my head again.  
  
"No, what?" I didn't even see that he had risen again   
  
and was holding out my package to me.  
  
"Oh, um...No--um.."  
  
"Ami-chan, you little klutz! What did I tell you about   
  
bumping in to cute, coffee serving college guys to get dates?"  
  
"Minako!" I would have jumped at her had he not spoken again.  
  
"Nice to see you again, Minako. Hey, Rei," He smiled   
  
affably, and I almost fell over.  
  
"Hey, Zach," Rei stopped for a moment and looked to be   
  
thinking about something.  
  
"Hey Zach, I've been meaning to ask you something."  
  
I knew what she was up to and I stepped behind him   
  
shaking my head again. She ignored me, of course.  
  
"What's up?" He turned to her.  
  
"Well, I told you about that talent competition I'm   
  
going to be in right? It's in about three weeks, and   
  
I'm sure that Ami--_ouch!,_" I nudged her harshly and feigned   
  
innocence.  
  
She rubbed her upper arm. "Right, well it'd be great   
  
if you could come and sorta cheer me on."   
  
Zach's eyes flew to me for a fleeting moment before   
  
returning to hers, "Sure, Rei, I'd love to come. Beats the   
  
hell out of studying for exams," he added with a grin.   
  
"Aren't you going to introduce us to your friends, Zach?"   
  
Makoto was eyeing them like a hungry lioness ready to pounce.   
  
I hadn't even noticed his three companions.   
  
One of them--a guy with chocolate brown hair and equally   
  
brown eyes--stood beside him, practically foaming at the mouth   
  
as he eyed Makoto.   
  
Sweetly grinning to his left, a blue-eyed male with his   
  
blonde hair hidden beneath a baseball hat stood pasting on his   
  
most "alluring" smile which I could picture him staring into   
  
a mirror practicing for hours to perfect.  
  
One remained. I instantly recognized the intense gray   
  
eyes that belonged to Kyle, my other savior.   
  
"Oh, yeah, these are some of my friends--Matt, Jason,   
  
and Kyle. Guys, this is Ami, Rei, Usagi, Minako, and...  
  
I never did get your--"   
  
"Makoto." Makoto supplied eagerly.  
  
"Right, Makoto."   
  
"You guys can come, too, if you'd like. It's a black-tie   
  
kind of thing, though," Rei was staring at Jason who was eyeing   
  
her openly.   
  
"What do you think you're looking at?" She spat.   
  
Jason looked startled and lightly blushed.  
  
His friends chuckled behind him, and he glared in   
  
their direction.  
  
Rather easily, I caught Kyle's gaze and nodded off   
  
in a direction away from our friends. His stoic face cracked   
  
somewhat, and he smiled, following my eyes and me as I walked off.  
  
I felt strangely secure in his presence, while   
  
intimidated by him as well. He must have been at least 6'6',   
  
towering over my own 5'7 frame.   
  
Images of two nights prior flew in front of my eyes,   
  
leaving dry tears in their wake. I didn't know what to say   
  
other than thank you a million times, so I went on impulse   
  
and wrapped my arms around his waist, because I couldn't curl   
  
my petite arms around his neck comfortably without a step   
  
ladder. I was surprised when his arms fell across my back.  
  
"I just wanted to thank you," I said, blushing heavily   
  
at my abrupt action, and released my hold on his rock-hard   
  
torso, "For you know..."  
  
He seemed as surprised as I was, but smiled warmly and   
  
touched my still swollen cheek, "Looks like we shoulda been   
  
there a few minutes earlier."   
  
"You sound like Zach," I said before I could catch it.   
  
He smiled and nodded in his friend's direction, "He's been worried   
  
about you for a while. I couldn't shut the guy up yesterday...but   
  
I'm glad you're OK, Ami."   
  
We shared another smile, whatever else needed to be said was  
  
carried along with it, and turned back to our huddle of   
  
conversing friends.  
  
Why couldn't I be that confident around Zach? I   
  
mused, cursing my timidity.  
  
I suddenly grabbed Kyle's bicep, "Oh, wait," He turned,   
  
"How'd your exam go?"   
  
He cringed, "Let's just say, I'll be kissing a lot  
  
of philosophical ass before we get out for break."  
  
I laughed with him. His face seemed much more relaxed   
  
than it had before. He was definitely the 'strong silent' type   
  
around people he didn't know too well. I felt relieved and   
  
pleased that he'd lost some of his tension around me.  
  
I found Zach's eyes on us as we returned, and if they   
  
weren't already green, I was almost sure they'd be burning   
  
neon as they stared at our obvious 'coziness', if you will.  
  
A definite something passed between the two males'   
  
gaze, but I couldn't decipher what. Whatever the case, Zach   
  
sobered quickly and approached me.  
  
"So...did you and Kyle...uh," He seemed to be at a loss   
  
for the right words.  
  
"I told him thanks," I explained. Why was I explaining?   
  
And why was Zach acting like he was my...  
  
Holy...did I miss something?  
  
"Did he say you're welcome? 'Cause if he didn't I can   
  
always kick his--"   
  
"Zach!" I laughed at his antics and how strangely   
  
he was acting.  
  
His face broke into a grin, the one that made gravity   
  
seem to not exist for me.  
  
"Sorry...but you're feeling OK, right?" His eyes fell   
  
across my cheek.  
  
My hand flew to it, still tender but healing extremely   
  
rapidly. Only a semi-dark shadow of purple/blue (which Usagi   
  
had personally taken upon herself to cover up with what felt   
  
like gallon of concealer) remained atop a barely noticeable lump.  
  
I had taken it upon myself to mentally slow my healing process,  
  
in case people started to wonder how a bruise the size of a   
  
softball disappeared in a day.  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
It was the most intelligent thing I had to say at the   
  
moment because his hand rested on top of my own, shocking me   
  
to my core.  
  
"Well, I guess we'll see you later. Bye, guys--nice   
  
meeting you," Usagi smiled widely and turned to Minako and   
  
Makoto.   
  
Zach removed his hand--a little to quickly for my   
  
liking, Usagi's voice slicing through our quasi-heart felt  
  
moment.  
  
"Bye, Ami-chan," He said, gracing me with another   
  
earth-shattering grin.   
  
"Bye, Zach, see you later,"   
  
Hopefully sooner.  
  
I tucked my long forgotten box beneath my arm and   
  
followed Rei and Usagi who were trying to tear Minako and   
  
Makoto away from Kyle and Matt. The movie we planned on   
  
seeing started in ten minutes and Usagi insisted on raiding   
  
the over priced concession stands beforehand.  
  
46 minutes and 3 boxers of Goobers later...  
  
"Man, that Matt guy was SO hot!"   
  
"Shut up, Makoto! I'm watching the movie!"  
  
"Be quiet, Rei. You know you thought that blonde was cute."  
  
"Did not! He was gawking at me!"  
  
"Ami, what was with you and Kyle getting all COZY?"   
  
"Stop hogging all the pop-corn, Rei-chan!"  
  
"What do you mean cozy, Minako? I was thanking him."  
  
"You know what I mean."  
  
"Get off me, Odango!"  
  
"It was nothing more than that."  
  
"Yeah, well Zach thought it was."  
  
"What do you mean 'Zach thought it was?'"  
  
"Ami, Ami, Ami...you poor child."  
  
"Shut up, Minako. You're just jealous she touched his   
  
'oh so chisled chest'."  
  
"You're one to talk...SPARKY."   
  
Makoto threw a handful of pop corn at Minako's head   
  
and she returned the favor.  
  
"Do you guys mind? Some people are trying to actually   
  
watch the movie.  
  
A tall brunette urned to face us, and we   
  
silmultaneously gasped. I recognized him as Zach's friend,   
  
Matt. I hadn't even realized that they had walked in behind us.  
  
What were they? Stalkers?  
  
Kyle turned around as well, smiling knowingly at me   
  
and then at Minako.  
  
"So, Minako, jealous of me and Ami?"  
  
I took a moment to laugh at Minako's surprised face   
  
and blush at his cynical comment.  
  
"Hey, Makoto thinks I'm hot."  
  
Makoto sunk back in her seat and hid behind her bag  
  
of pop-corn.  
  
"Eavesdroppers," Usagi muttered.  
  
"Well it's not that hard when you're practically   
  
yelling," Jason had joined the conversation now.  
  
"Hey, Rei, do you think I'm cute, too?" He made a   
  
baby face and laughed when she huffed and turned her head   
  
to the screen.  
  
"Jerk," I heard her mumble.  
  
"You know you like it," was his response.  
  
I took the opportunity to excuse myself to go to   
  
the bathroom before anyone brought up anything to do with   
  
me and Zach.  
  
In the bathroom, I ran cool water and splashed my face.   
  
I looked at my cheek and saw that the color had lightened   
  
another shade. Our advanced rates of healing as senshi did   
  
come in handy at times.   
  
Dabbing on some of the Usagi-supplied concealer and a   
  
new layer of lip gloss, I quickly brushed my hair and exited.  
  
I was only half-surprised that Zach was waiting for me.  
  
"Hey," I said, finding it the only coherent thought   
  
flitting around my head at the moment.  
  
"Is the movie that bad?" I joked, grateful for his   
  
smile.  
  
"It is when there are six extremely hormonal co-eds   
  
yelling back and forth in your ear," Zach leaned casually   
  
against the wall.  
  
I rolled my eyes, subconsciously wondering if Jason   
  
would be in one piece by the time we returned.   
  
"How long have you known them--the guys, I mean." I   
  
inquired, having picked up on their tight-nit energy earlier.  
  
His eyes met mine, smiling, "The guys? Forever..."   
  
He laughed, "Jason and I are cousins. At a family reunion   
  
ten years ago he slid his pet lizard up my Aunt Ellen's pants   
  
leg, and I covered for him," He laughed at the memory.  
  
"It was worth missing Disney Land just to see her dance   
  
around in her Mickey Mouse ears hat, running over the entire   
  
MMC in the process."  
  
I laughed with him, falling in love with his infectious   
  
smile all over again.  
  
"The others sort of came along the way; Matt and Jason   
  
got into a fist fight in the sixth grade. Both went home with   
  
bloody noses and have been tight ever since.   
  
"Kyle--Kyle's something," He shook his head, "He looks like a   
  
bad ass, but really, it's all a front," He leaned in towards  
  
me as if about to offer information that the CIA would kill to   
  
acquire, "I caught him crying during the Wizard of Oz when we   
  
were junior counselors at a kids camp one summer."  
  
I laughed out loud, covering my mouth with one hand.   
  
There was NO way I could picture Big Intimidator Kyle getting   
  
all weepy over the munchkin song.  
  
"Dead serious," he said between chuckles. After a minute   
  
or two, he sobered considerably.  
  
"I moved here when I was 13. I thought it was the end of   
  
the world, of course," He talked with his hands, "But some how   
  
we ended up together anyway. Jason's parents took jobs at my   
  
father's company and moved here a year later.  
  
I met Kyle here, in Tokyo, that summer, and Matt visited   
  
so much that he decided to stay and go to college here, too. His   
  
mother goes into cardiac arrest if he doesn't call at least ten   
  
times a day to tell her he's still alive."  
  
A pause followed, and I swallowed.  
  
"Do you miss it there? In America?" I said gently,   
  
wondering if there was any remote possiblity that he'd be   
  
leaving any time soon and fervently praying there wasn't.  
  
He turned to me, staring blankly for a moment as if in   
  
deep thought. Soon it passed, and his face cracked into a smile.   
  
He shook his head.  
  
"No...not as much anymore. Although, I have to admit, it   
  
took some getting used to not having a Waffle House at every corner."  
  
"What's a-a waw-full?"   
  
"Never mind," he laughed. "I'll take you there some day,   
  
Ami," He said softly.  
  
His words, though they weren't anything spectacular, they meant   
  
everything to me.   
  
'I'll take you there...some day.'  
  
It was like a promise for the future, the future   
  
I was--and still am--afraid to imagine for Zach and myself.  
  
"Yo, Braudell!"  
  
Zach's sentence trailed off, and we whipped our heads   
  
around.  
  
"You owe me eight bucks for the ticket you just wasted!"   
  
Matt yelled across the corridor, Kyle and Jason filing out behind him.   
  
Minako's blonde head appeared suddenly from behind Kyle,   
  
who's body had completely hidden her own. She smiled at me and winked.  
  
I could barely believe we'd missed the entire film.   
  
Although, I'd long since forgotten what movie we'd even gone to see.  
  
"C'mon, Rei, you know you think I'm cute, admit it already!"   
  
Jason walked beside a fuming Rei, trying to keep up with her   
  
hurried steps.  
  
She whirled on him, viloet eyes ablaze with agitation,   
  
"Look, you pompous ass hole, if you don't leave me alone,   
  
I will make you."  
  
Jason paused for a long moment, furrowing his brow.  
  
"Alright, I'm going to take that as a yes."  
  
"Ugh!" She huffed and continued towards the exit, a   
  
giggling Usagi in tow.  
  
I moved to follow them, wondering if I should offer to   
  
drive lest Rei should decide to take out her frustrations on   
  
any innocent bystanders on the way home.  
  
A warm hand on my shoulder stopped my bee line for the door.   
  
And there he was.   
  
"Look, Ami, there's this ice-skating thing that the guys   
  
and I are going to tomorrow night. My dad's sponsoring a charity   
  
to raise money for foster kids, and I was wondering if maybe   
  
you'd like to come with me? I mean...us--the guys and me."   
  
His little boy grin masked his nervousness fairly well, and made   
  
him look impossibly cute. I had the urge to brush the fly away   
  
blonde hairs that fell across his forehead and kiss his adorable   
  
nose, but, of course, refrained from doing any such actions.  
  
"Sure, that sounds like fun."   
  
I can't believe he asked me out. Well...sort of, anyway.  
  
He gave a small sigh--I wasn't sure if it was of relief   
  
or because Matt was persisitantly badgering him from behind for   
  
his eight dollars--and smiled widely.   
  
"Great, you can invite the other girls, too. I'm sure the   
  
guys wouldn't mind," He knocked Matt's hand away from his face,   
  
"And you can meet us at Juuban lake at 6:00. That okay?"   
  
The butterflies in my stomach were fluttering in over-drive,   
  
and I knew that if I didn't stop looking at him soon I'd either  
  
pounce on him or faint. Thankfully, they tamed themselves long   
  
enough for me to nod my consent.   
  
We shared a smile, and he gestured towards the theater door.   
  
As we walked, I resisted the urge to reach for his extremely   
  
inviting hand and kept my gaze on the carpet.  
  
Despite the warmth in my heart and the presence of Zach   
  
beside me, the biting wind knawed through my jacket and   
  
relentless chills ascended my spine.  
  
We parted ways, he saying goodbye again, and I smiling   
  
through the locks of indigo hair that flew across my face.  
  
In Rei's car, Usagi absentmindedly flipped through radio   
  
stations, while Rei steamed from her perch in the back seat.   
  
I had my hands firmly clasped at 10 and 2 o'clock and adjusted  
  
my seat so Makoto's long legs could stretch out more.   
  
Minako sat contendedly humming in between the two, every   
  
now and then murmuring "mm hmm's" to Rei who was talking to   
  
everyone and herself at the same time about that "egotistical  
  
jerk."  
  
"Soo...Ami-chan, care to share what you and Zach were   
  
doing all alone in an empty corridor for a half hour?" Usagi   
  
inquired after giving up on finding a suitable station and   
  
leaving it on repetitive holiday music.  
  
"Not exactly, Usagi," I muttered, silently cursing a   
  
black mustang that swerved out in front of me like a bat out  
  
of hell.  
  
"Alright, let me try it another way," she turned her   
  
head to me, "Tell me what you and Zach were doing alone in   
  
a dark corridor for a half hour."  
  
"Talking," I said flatly.  
  
"Talking." She repeated.  
  
"Yes, Usagi, talking, that's all," I took a sharp turn.  
  
"Oh..." She trailed off in voice that clearly stated   
  
'I don't believe you in the least.'  
  
I could see her through my pererphial vision eyeing me   
  
underneath her thick, blonde eyelashes.  
  
Sighing, I glanced at her, "What is it Usagi?"  
  
"Hmm? Oh, nothing, Ami-chan."  
  
She knew exactly which strings to pull.  
  
"Usagi, just say it," I said more choppy than I intended.  
  
She seemed unfazed, "Well...Zach seems to really be, I don't   
  
know," She paused in search of the right word, "Infatuated--with   
  
you, that is."  
  
Infatuated?  
  
"And how do you figure that Usagi?" I gulped,   
  
feeling suddenly very uncomfortable.  
  
She craned her neck to peer into the rearview mirror,   
  
"Well, if he weren't, he wouldn't be following our car right now."  
  
SCWEEEERRRRVVVVVVVVVVVVV!  
  
I blanched and slammed on the breaks, sending Usagi   
  
flying towards the dashboard, and if not for the seatbelt   
  
fastened around her torso, she would have been lying unconscious   
  
half-way through the window by then.  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"Ami-chan! What the hell are you doing?!" Rei screeched   
  
from behind Usagi's seat.   
  
A chorous of obscene curses and honking horns sounded   
  
from outside.  
  
Usagi turned her head slowly, smiling deviously.  
  
"Oh...never mind, guess that wasn't him."  
  
ta DA! And there lies another installment of "To Go, Please."  
  
sneaky grin It's getting so good! hehehe...  
  
I just love writing this stuff! It's so much fun for me.   
  
I've stayed up like an addict, writing non-stop till the   
  
early morning hours. I must have rewritten some parts   
  
twenty million times already! I hope you guys like the ways  
  
things are going to far!  
  
--Adrial  
  
REVIEW! make me feel worthy of writing; tell me i suck. I don't care. Let me know someone's out there reading my stuff!  
  
adrial06yahoo.com


	7. 7 Ice capped Revelations

TO GO, PLEASE  
  
Chapter 7: Ice-capped Revelations  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Author: Adrial  
  
E-mail: adrial06yahoo.com  
  
TO GO, PLEASE  
  
DISCLAIMER: Don't own it, don't want it.

-------------------------------

"They did say six, right?" Minako peered through the   
  
dense crowd of skaters in search of four, attractive college   
  
sophmores with an anxious frown on her lips.  
  
"Yeah, we're probably early or something."   
  
I tried to control my eyes from apprehensively searching   
  
through the mass of people as well. Flurries of snow caressed  
  
my face like whispers, drifting away before I could even   
  
acknowlege their presence, and I longed to feel the chill of  
  
the ice like warmth from a fire.  
  
"Who are we waiting for, again?" Mamoru inquired, his   
  
arm tucked around Usagi's.  
  
Makoto's eyes flashed to Minako's, and she, in turn,  
  
peered up at Rei. Rei scoffed and flipped a lock of raven away   
  
from her eyes, lacing up her final skate.  
  
"Some friends of Ami's current love interest," She said   
  
matter-of-factly.  
  
Mamoru quirked an eyebrow at me. Usagi giggled from his   
  
arm, idly watching toddlers stumble across the ice, holding   
  
hands as if their tiny lives depeneded on it.  
  
"Ami has a love interest?" He asked.  
  
"Mamo-chan! Don't interrogate her!" Usagi scolded,   
  
obviously missing the hipocracy behind her comment.  
  
Mamoru held up his hands in defense, taking a step   
  
backwards, "Alright, alright, I can take a hint."  
  
Minako stood up, skating perfect 360's around the   
  
couple, her cerulean eyes flitting over the crowd again.  
  
Usagi watched her twirl with glassy eyes. "Minako,   
  
you're making me dizzy."  
  
Minako stopped skating but her eyes did not cease   
  
their search.  
  
The lake was a blur of color as children and adults   
  
skated around one another in some sort of unintentional,   
  
non-choreographed waltz.  
  
"Come ON, Mamo-chan! I want to skate." Usagi tugged   
  
Mamoru's arm roughly, and we laughed at his pleading stare   
  
before he was dragged away and their forms melded into the   
  
swirl of skaters.  
  
I sighed, pushing my fingers through my gloves.   
  
Minako put on her blue, cotton ski hat, smoothing out her   
  
golden tresses and patting her coat free of snow flakes.  
  
Makoto squeaked from beside me, launching herself out   
  
of the way as a squealing five year old and her father   
  
breezed past her hazardously with an apologetic wave.  
  
If only Dad were here... I thought, watching   
  
the pair fly by.  
  
Huh? What would I want him here for?  
  
I shook my head and laced up my final skate. As   
  
much as I willed them not to, memories of my father and   
  
I skating together rushed into my vision like a barrage   
  
of painful thorns.  
  
"Hey, Ami-chan, you OK?" Makoto must have seen my eyes   
  
glaze over.  
  
"Um, yeah, it's just...you know," I smiled reassuringly   
  
and stood.  
  
She offered an empathetic smile in return. I remembered   
  
the night I'd spent telling the senshi all about my father after   
  
he visited me. They understood, having been deprived of certain   
  
elements of family just as I had.  
  
When Minako's mother and father had returned to England   
  
after her graduation, Minako had been launched into a non-parentally   
  
guided world before she could barely grasp the concept. She'd been   
  
managing, though--years of juggling acting and modeling along with   
  
senshi duties had taught her, as it did us all, of responsiblity   
  
and dependability. Minako was ecstatic when Makoto offered to   
  
share her apartment with her, saving her from renting a dorm   
  
room with a complete stranger.   
  
Although, Makoto nearly revoked her offer when she caught   
  
Minako drying her clothes in the microwave rather than bulldozing   
  
her way through two feet of snow to the dry cleaners.  
  
Makoto, of course, lost her parents at the ripe age of 12,   
  
being forced to enter her akward teenage years without maternal   
  
influence, save for a picture and journal discovered later in a   
  
discarded box social workers had left sitting in her mother's   
  
bedroom the day they took her away to the "Home".  
  
Rei had "all the family she'd ever need", she'd told us   
  
that night--her grandfather, who had been the only parent she'd known   
  
since infancy, and us, the senshi.  
  
Usagi rarely saw her parents, not that they weren't   
  
close, but life seemed to wedge itself deeper into what little   
  
time together they could share, causing a giant rift in the   
  
communication department.  
  
I remembered then, as I stood on the slippery ice,   
  
felt the biting wind whipping at my face and the clean   
  
smell of snow, my father's face, his smile, and the strong   
  
hand that held my own as we skated our winters away together.  
  
Makoto put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed.  
  
Before I could say anything, a loud yelp cut off my thoughts.  
  
"Hey, ass hole! That wasn't funny!" Kyle slipped and slid   
  
over the surface of the ice clumsily, while Zach stood back   
  
red-faced and trying to control his wild laughter.  
  
"I would really have to disagree, K-kyle," At this point his   
  
laughs bubbled out from his mouth freely.  
  
"When I get up, I'm going to kick your-whoa!"   
  
Kyle's legs wavered again and he fell down.  
  
"That's if you ever do get up," Zach was skating around him.  
  
Kyle sighed and laid flat on the ice, "Remind me why   
  
I'm doing this again."  
  
"For the children," Minako, her cheeks reddened from   
  
the chill, bent over him and offered him a gloved hand   
  
while giggling openly.  
  
His shocked expression coupled with pure embarrassment   
  
caused a great show. He tried to stand so abruptly that his   
  
legs flipped out from under him. Minako grabbed on to him to   
  
steady his thrashing body but was only tugged down beside him.   
  
They ended up in a mass of blonde hair and tangled limbs on the ice.  
  
"Could we get a little help here, minna-chan?" She nodded   
  
in Kyle's direction, and, after stifling our giggles, Makoto and I   
  
helped them up.  
  
Kyle accepted our hands reluctantly, and stood, dusting   
  
the ice shavings from his jacket. He turned to Minako.  
  
"This doesn't take away any of my masculinity points does it?"  
  
"Of course not," She smiled and took his hand.   
  
He ingored the fact that her hand was the only thing keeping   
  
his body from crashing to the ice again.   
  
"Man, Kyle, you looked like a disoriented penguin flapping   
  
around like that!" Matt grabbed his knees and bent over   
  
laughing loudly.  
  
Kyle growled softly and turned to his cackling friend.  
  
With one swift kick, Matt was laying dumbfounded on the ice.  
  
"Hey, that was a cheap shot!" He pouted from his position   
  
(ass firmly planted) on the ground.  
  
Kyle smirked and turned to face me. He leaned near my ear   
  
and whispered, "It's about time you got here. Zach was driving himself   
  
crazy wondering where you were."  
  
I didn't bother to hide my blush and laughed at his wink.   
  
"And like you weren't knocking down everyone near you   
  
while you were looking for Minako, Kyle," Jason dodged Kyle's fist   
  
and spun around to Rei.  
  
"Hey, Rei, didja miss me?" He flashed a toothy grin at her.  
  
Rei cocked an eyebrow, "If I say 'yes' will you promise to   
  
leave me alone?" Her arms were crossed in a 'don't-even-think-about-  
  
touching-me' way.  
  
"I dunno, you're kinda cute when you're annoyed," Jason   
  
bravely put his arm around her shoulders.  
  
After Rei swatted away his arm, shoved him roughly out   
  
of her way, and skated into the crowd, he sighed.  
  
"She wants me SO bad."  
  
With that said, he set off, hot on her trail.  
  
"Matt, your friend doesn't know what he's getting himself   
  
into. I've seen Rei put guys in the hospital that even looked at   
  
her the wrong way." Makoto was helping Matt stand.  
  
"Nah, it's just ego. He's not used to chicks--GIRLS," He   
  
immediately corrected his blunder after seeing Makoto's look   
  
of contempt, "turning him down."  
  
Makoto rewarded him with a pearly grin.  
  
I felt Zach's eyes on me even before he said anything.   
  
There go those damn butterflies.  
  
"Hey, Ami-chan."   
  
I skated around Makoto and Matt and stopped in front of him.  
  
"Hey," I waited for a moment of awkward silence.   
  
"So..."  
  
"So..."  
  
"Do you like kids?" I swore I saw him wince after he said that.   
  
"Um...yeah, they're great." As I mentally visioned the God of  
  
Conversation hurtling lightening bolts at my head, I swallowed and fought  
  
for something to say that wasn't completely dense.  
  
"INCOMING!!"  
  
**BOOM.  
**  
"Oof! Usagi?" I felt the freezing surface of the   
  
ice seeping through my jeans, and I propped myself up on my elbows.   
  
Usagi was laying face-down beside me, panting.  
  
"S-sorry, Ami-chan. This skating thing is a lot harder   
  
than it looks, did you know that?" She reached to help me up.  
  
"Are you okay, Ami?" Zach looked impossibly cute when he was worried.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," I tucked back a lock of hair.  
  
"Usa, why don't we go see what..uh...Minako's doing?" Mamoru   
  
nodded in another direction.  
  
"But why do you wan-"  
  
"Come on," He pulled her away and winked at me.   
  
What is it with all the winks?  
  
When they zoomed (or stumbled, in Usagi's case) off, Zach   
  
and I remained standing. The intense case of timidity I was suffering   
  
from irked me to no end. Zach stared at his skates, surprisingly having   
  
lost some of the earlier confidence I'd noticed in him, and I fiddled   
  
with my gloves.  
  
Oh, this is insane. I have to do something.  
  
With a burst of...something, I grabbed his hand,   
  
said 'Let's go', and skated out into the crowd.  
  
I can't believe I did that. Oh well, too late now.  
  
For the first few moments we skated in stride together,   
  
I reveling in the feeling of the ice swiftly passing beneath   
  
my feet, and he holding my hand firmly.   
  
"So how long have you loved ice-skating?" He smiled down at me.  
  
"Is it that obvious?" I asked.  
  
"Well, I'm guessing that huge grin on your face is only   
  
partly because of me," He touched the corner of my mouth   
  
which was surprisingly curved upward.   
  
I laughed slightly and blushed.  
  
"My dad used to take me skating all the time when I   
  
was younger," I took on a faraway look in my eyes and turned   
  
to the sea of gliding people swarming around us.  
  
"Do you still go together?" His question was so   
  
innocent; I knew it was coming, but I still felt unprepared.  
  
I ignored the burning sensation in my eyes and throat   
  
and turned to him.  
  
"No...he's not really a part of my life anymore,"   
  
A slight pressure in my hand indicated his small squeeze of   
  
understanding, and I let the wave of excitement pass over me.  
  
He's making me feel so--Oh, God, I think I might be   
  
falling for him.  
  
The realization hit me like a giant tsunami of fear   
  
and apprehension. How could this happen? What about...But   
  
I couldn't possibly be in--no, no this is impossible.  
  
How could I have let myself develop feelings for him?   
  
I tried to keep my face completely devoid of any emotion as all   
  
of my insecurities and fears came rushing into my mind like excess   
  
baggage I'd forgotten existed.   
  
Urawa's face...his words...everything that I'd vowed to   
  
move on from lurched themselves back into my thoughts. The hand   
  
which had felt before so warm and comfortable sitting in my   
  
own suddenly seemed to laden with fire.  
  
"Um...I-I have to go," Without turning back to see his   
  
reaction, I weaved my way across the ice haphazardly.   
  
The ancient bench I sat on squeaked underneath my weight as I   
  
hurriedly removed my skates, replaced them with my shoes and   
  
rose quickly.  
  
I can't fall in love with him. He'll leave me...  
  
just like everyone else.  
  
My tears froze in my eyes before they could fall,   
  
and soft, white snowflakes burned the skin on my neck and cheeks.   
  
I turned my face towards the heavens and let the shower of white   
  
fall onto me in a frozen blanket of hollow comfort.  
  
I can't do it. I can't. I repeated to myself over   
  
and over again, engraving it into my mind so that it played  
  
repetitively like a broken record.  
  
My hands weren't quick enough to wipe away the tears  
  
that slipped out of my eyes sneakily and trailed rapidly down  
  
my numb cheeks. I gave up on them and continued down the path  
  
I'd stumbled upon.  
  
The heavy weight of a tree supporting my own barely  
  
registered in my mind as I leaned against it heavily.  
  
I didn't feel the weight of a tree supporting my own   
  
as I sat there, nor did I hear when he approached me.   
  
Zach's warm hand brushed against my moist skin like fire, but I   
  
remained still, silently gazing at the wintery scene before me.  
  
The words that poured from my mouth in a bitter stream carried   
  
thousands of memories of the many years of pain that I'd put aside for   
  
so long--perhaps too long, I thought silently to myself.  
  
"My father used to say that I would always be his   
  
little angel--that he would always be here with me," I let   
  
out a choked laugh, "And I actually believed him."  
  
Numbly, I turned to face him. The look on his face   
  
seemed so different. I never remembered being looked at like   
  
that before. I wasn't sure if I wanted him to look at me with   
  
those eyes--those eyes that held feelings that I couldn't   
  
decipher...or just didn't want to.   
  
"Urawa said the same things before he left...but I was   
  
naïve then. I thought that nothing could hurt me."   
  
His eyes flashed, but I spoke before he could, turning my   
  
head back to the falling snow in front of me.   
  
The sky continued to cry sheets of frozen tears around us, and   
  
they fell faster with each second.  
  
"Sometimes I wonder what I did that was so wrong that they   
  
didn't want me anymore. I tried working harder in school to impress   
  
my father, but he kept away still. I used to blame my mother for...  
  
for taking him away, but in the end I knew it was because of...me."  
  
I was forced to stop talking as a new rush of tears fell from   
  
my unsteady eyes and splashed soundlessly against the frozen earth.  
  
He reached for my arms and pulled me to him.  
  
"It wasn't your fault, Ami-chan. You didn't do anything wrong."   
  
He gripped my shoulders firmly and turned my chin to face him.  
  
"You don't have to be afraid."  
  
I reluctantly looked in his eyes, and they conveyed his feelings   
  
more clearly than if they were flashing in neon.   
  
"I...I can't," I shook my head, tears flying off of my   
  
cheeks.  
  
He rubbed a few stray beads of moisture from my face, and   
  
I silently wished he would just walk away and take his sincere   
  
gazes with him.   
  
"Ami-chan," He said, barely above a whisper, "I won't leave you."  
  
I won't leave you...  
  
His last words gripped me in a place that had not been   
  
touched for what seemed like forever. Like a long forgotten   
  
treasure stashed away for years, my heart shook off a layer of dust   
  
and cracked open slightly, yawning from its long, dormant sleep  
  
and yearning to believe.  
  
But Urawa had said those same words.   
  
Immediately, my heart snapped shut again, fleeing to hide   
  
in the vacant space of my soul. I would not be hurt again.  
  
"Don't...don't say that," I said, shaking my head slowly.  
  
His grip on my shoulders tightened, "Ami-chan, I am not   
  
going to leave to you."  
  
More lies.  
  
"Don't say that to me!" I shook his hands off of my shoulders,   
  
and stood up, infuriated by his words, although not completely   
  
sure why anymore. It was so much easier to ignore them, though.  
  
Zach stood and grabbed my arm, pulling me into his embrace   
  
before I could protest. It was so warm in his arms. I felt my   
  
insides churn angrily as his warmth interfered with their   
  
frozen barriers.   
  
"Ami-chan, I won't lie to you. I could never lie to   
  
you," His words were soft--a contrast to the harsh winds that   
  
whipped around us, tousling our hair.  
  
For a moment, I contemplated them, their meaning, and   
  
their sincerity. I stared at his face intensely.   
  
And I saw him, for the first time, in a different   
  
light--not with my eyes, but with my heart.  
  
There was truth in his words, affection in his gentle   
  
embrace, and love in his eyes.  
  
It was too much for my weakened heart to handle.   
  
"Ami-chan, I know that you're afraid," He cradled my head   
  
gently, and I closed my eyes, "But...I can't ignore my feelings   
  
for you."  
  
"Please don't...I can't handle anymore," I was pleading,   
  
my watery eyes begging for him to stop.  
  
"If you need time, I'll understand," He brushed a   
  
falling tear from my cheek, "When you're ready...I'll be   
  
here for you."  
  
I wasn't sure what happened then. I felt a surge of fire   
  
shooting down my spine and the most blissful feeling in my heart as  
  
I lifted a shaky hand to the ghost of his lips on my cheek.   
  
My brain screamed words of reason more adamantly than   
  
before, reminding me of the pain I'd been dealt. It was easy   
  
to believe it and disregard my heart's weak pulse, which desperately   
  
urged me to trust again.  
  
He gazed at me one more time, a shadow of regret tinging the   
  
irises of his eyes, before turning to walking away.   
  
Don't let him leave, Ami  
  
I didn't know who whispered that in my ear, but I   
  
didn't care. Without another thought I walked the short distance   
  
to him and stood inches from his back.  
  
"I..."  
  
One last chance to turn back, Ames.  
  
"I believe you."  
  
Zach stopped walking and turned around. He didn't   
  
speak for a moment--just stood there with snow lashing   
  
around him, and stared at me.  
  
I took a step forward, and looked into his eyes steadily.  
  
"I believe you, Zach."  
  
And it was true.  
  
"I was hoping you would," He finally said, his lips   
  
curving into a smile that left me dazed for a few seconds.   
  
I fell into his arms willingly, and didn't fight the emotions   
  
that swirled in my heart from his touch.  
  
This is right.  
  
I had no idea how long we remained standing in   
  
each other's embrace, nor did I care. I found a place I   
  
could never find anywhere else in his arms.  
  
He loosened his grip on me. I could feel the   
  
snow which had before blown fiercly against our faces   
  
soften to a light flurry.  
  
My chin tingled when he touched it, bringing it   
  
upward again.  
  
"Ami," His lips were dangerously close to mine,   
  
and I could feel the foggy cloud of his breath against my mouth,   
  
"Can I kiss you?"  
  
Fresh tears streamed along my cheeks from behind my eyes.   
  
They were no longer sad, but joyful and relieved.  
  
I didn't bother answering him and met his lips   
  
half-way. The rush of pure bliss that resulted in his lips   
  
against mine shocked me senseless. In reality, I didn't need my   
  
senses to know that its feeling rivaled any other I'd ever   
  
experienced.   
  
His lips were cold against mine at first, warming as our   
  
kiss deepened. A blanket of sercurity surrounded me, and when   
  
we seperated I ignored the brief pang of loss that shot   
  
through my heart.  
  
"You know...I've been wanting to do that for a long   
  
time now," He said, smiling.   
  
I could hardly make out his outline as the night grew   
  
steadily darker.  
  
I laughed softly and felt something brush against   
  
my leg. It startled me, causing me to gasp and grip   
  
Zach's neck tighter.  
  
"You okay?" He asked.  
  
"Um, yeah, it must have been a rabbit or something,   
  
sorry about that," I blushed sheepishly at my action and   
  
stepped back.  
  
He drew me closer, "Actually, I kinda like it better   
  
this way."  
  
I felt myself swirling into a puddle of some amorphous   
  
mixture of giddiness and sublime happiness.  
  
"We'd better go find the others before they start to   
  
get worried," I said after a while, suddenly aware of the burning  
  
of my reddened ears and nose.  
  
Every fiber of my being begged to stay in that position,   
  
but it was getting late, but I had little desire for four angry   
  
senshi to be on my back.  
  
He rested his forehead on mine, "Do we have to?"   
  
I laughed, and kissed him lightly, "Unless you want   
  
four extremely agitated friends of mine to hunt us down."  
  
"I could take 'em," He said, kissing me fully.  
  
I broke from his lips, laughing, and took his hand,   
  
"I wouldn't bet on that if I were you."  
  
He gasped, "Do you question my ability to kick ass?"  
  
I answered him with a stream of laughter.   
  
It seemed ironic how only minutes before, I had been   
  
gripped with such anger and frustration.   
  
But Zach would stay.  
  
And I trusted him.   
  
"Ami-chan, where were you? We were starting to wor--"  
  
Makoto eyed Zach and my locked hands and raised her eyebrows, "But  
  
I can see that your fine now."  
  
Zach squeezed my hand gently, and my heart swelled.  
  
I was a little more than 'fine' at the moment...  
  
"Well, now that we're all together why don't we go   
  
get some food? I'm starving after all that skating," Usagi jumped to   
  
her feet.  
  
"What skating, Usagi? You spent most of the night falling   
  
on your as-ouch! Minako!" Rei glared at her.  
  
"Come on, Rei-chan, why can't we all just get along?"  
  
Minako flashed a goofy smile, turned, and followed a pouting Usagi   
  
to the street.   
  
I let go of Zach's hand and returned his smile.   
  
God, how I did not want to leave at that moment.   
  
Mamoru opted to stay behind with the guys, leaving behind  
  
Usagi who had begrudgingly agreed.   
  
As I trailed off behind my friends, I caught a bit   
  
of the guys' converstation.  
  
"So, Zach, what were you and Ami up to?"   
  
I could almost see Jason's devious grin.  
  
"None of your business, Jay. You know I'm kinda   
  
hungry too, maybe we shou-"  
  
"Nuh uh, man, you're not getting off that easy."  
  
"Don't you have your own issues to worry about, Matt?"  
  
"Obviously, NO."  
  
"Zachary Braudell, it hurts me deeply that   
  
you would keep such information from your own cousin,"   
  
"Give it up, Jason. You just don't want us to ask   
  
about that nice little red hand print on your cheek," Kyle's  
  
deep voice was thick with humor.   
  
"Jason got bitch-slapped by Rei?" Matt laughed loudly,   
  
"Finally crossed the line, huh?"   
  
"Oh, come on. She is so into me! I just have to   
  
get past this little 'touch-me-and-die' phase...  
  
As their voices trailed off, I smiled to myself and tuned   
  
back into the girls' conversation, now led by a fuming Rei.  
  
"...and he had the nerve to try to kiss me! Ooh that   
  
little testosterone driven, overly egotistical, cocky bast--"  
  
"Rei-chan, give him a chance. He obviously likes you,   
  
and you're just being stubborn as usual," Minako twirled a lock of her   
  
golden hair between her fingers and had a far-off look in her eyes.  
  
Rei glared at her, "Whatever. So what if he's maybe a little   
  
bit cute. That doesn't mean I'm going to just fall to my knees and beg   
  
for him to ask me out," Rei threw a handful of change at the vendor's  
  
open palm and grabbed the hot chocolate from his grasp, splashing the   
  
searing liquid onto her exposed hand.  
  
"Oh, crap!" She growled and began wiping it on her   
  
jacket.  
  
"Minako, just why are you acting all spacey and bubbly   
  
all of the sudden?" Makoto eyed Minako's twirling hand.  
  
"What? A girl can't be a little spacey at times?"   
  
She said defiantly.  
  
"Sure...but usually a guy's involved," Makoto sipped her   
  
drink, looking at Minako through her eyelashes.  
  
I saw Minako blush lightly and her eyes sparkled.  
  
"Yeah...guys are fun," She giggled.  
  
"Ugh! Minako you are making me sick. Just tell us   
  
what happened already," Rei had recovered from her burn.  
  
"Now, now, now, Rei-chan, I never kiss and tell," Minako   
  
grabbed her own drink and skipped off. When exactly had we  
  
turned back into fourteen year olds?  
  
"Ah! Kyle kissed you! I knew it!" Usagi bounced after her,   
  
laughing. Minako sang something like 'Not exactly', but I didn't   
  
take the time to think about it.  
  
My thoughts drifted elsewhere, and I had to restrain myself   
  
from giggling.  
  
By this time I was envisioning things only Usagi could have   
  
thought of, and felt something shaking me.  
  
"Ami-chan! What's up with you? Hell-OOOO, AMI!!!" Makoto was   
  
waving her hands frantically in front of my face.  
  
This time I couldn't help but giggle softly.  
  
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.  
  
"Now, now, now, Mako-chan, I never kiss and tell," I laughed  
  
openly and bounded off like Minako and Usagi.   
  
The few moments of silence indicated Makoto's stunned stupor.  
  
"Ami-chan! Get back here! I can't believe you're not going to   
  
tell me!" She chased after me.  
  
I caught up with a giggling Usagi and Minako and we   
  
found a bench to sit on. The biting chill of the air failed   
  
to faze me and I sat back, hot chocolate in hand, and basked in the   
  
snowflakes falling around me.  
  
"Ami-chan, come on and tell us already," Makoto plopped   
  
down beside me, followed by Rei.  
  
"Tell us what?" Usagi asked.  
  
"About her and Zach's kiss," Makoto hurriedly stated.  
  
"Her and Zach's what?" Minako and Usagi exclaimed   
  
simultaneously.  
  
I started to hum merrily. I actually HUMMED. I really   
  
was turning into Minako.  
  
A lump of freezing snow collided with my cheek,   
  
startling me out of my thoughts.  
  
"Makoto!"   
  
She laughed and rolled up another snowball.  
  
"What was that for?!" I stood trying to act upset,   
  
but couldn't control my laughter. I rolled up a ball of   
  
white fluff myself.  
  
"You guys are acting like such little chil-mmf," Rei  
  
sputtered through a mouthful of snow.  
  
Usagi laughed merrily and hopped past Rei. Rei wiped   
  
the snow from her eyes, her voice lowering to a low rumble.  
  
"Odango...RUN," Rei leaped after her and started picking   
  
up handfuls of snow and launching them in all directions.  
  
Ten minutes later, we exited the park tired, wet, and freezing   
  
beyond belief. Rei's mood had lightened, and Minako recapped her   
  
and Kyle's moment for the better part of our journey to Rei's   
  
temple where we were planning on sleeping--minus Truth or Dare.  
  
As Minako began to laugh madly about Kyle's expression   
  
when he fell flat on the ice after she kissed him, I tried to   
  
stop the smile that spread over my face.  
  
And I didn't even have to break my leg...

----------------------------------

And there we have it, Zach and Ami tOgEtHa! :D Gotta luv   
  
that whole mushy gushy scene I put in there. More to come,   
  
lotza surprises. Until next time! (sorry for the delay in uploading;

ff.net was being impossible)  
  
ja ne!  
  
--Adrial  
  
adrial06yahoo.com


	8. 8 When Good Dates Go Bad

TO GO, PLEASE  
  
Chapter 8: When Good Dates Go Bad  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Author: Adrial  
  
E-mail:   
  
TO GO, PLEASE  
  
Hey, everyone! Chapter 8's here as promised, and I really  
  
hope you like it. It's gonna get the wheels turning a little  
  
faster, and there's some definite action.   
  
Reviews and e-mail are definitely welcome and appreciated!  
  
DISCLAIMER: Don't own it, don't want it.

--------------------------------------

By the end of the next three weeks, I was ready to hunt   
  
down Gucci, Chanel, or any other mentally distorted stillhetto   
  
endorser and personally beat them to a pulp--or something of that  
  
caliber.  
  
I rubbed my aching feet repeatedly, glaring daggers at the   
  
wall in memory of the five hours Minako and Rei had forced me to   
  
walk run-way style down the aisles of countless shoe stores, all   
  
for one damn pair of feet-killers.  
  
And, of course, I'd allowed myself to be flung from shoe   
  
to shoe just to keep Rei from having a nervous melt down. If she   
  
wasn't badgering Serena for breathing too louldy or burning a hole   
  
into some unfortnuate sales clerk's forhead, the overwhelming abyss   
  
of anxiety would have surely gobbled her hot little head right   
  
up by then.  
  
I couldn't really blame her for being a nervous   
  
wreck--MTV Japan was, after all, taping the talent show live--but   
  
when she stood in front of a store window and stared at her profile   
  
for twenty minutes trying to find out which was her "good side",   
  
I had to dig my nails in my palms to keep from shaking her so   
  
hard that her head popped right off and fell into the growing   
  
pit of burning shoes I longed to create.  
  
My eyes traveled to my unfinished anatomy homework,   
  
and I masaged my temples. The clock read 3:34, and I was having   
  
trouble focusing on the task at hand. With midterms lurking   
  
around the corner, I was liable to snap at any moment.  
  
3:35.  
  
I slapped my pencil down and stretched. The evil  
  
anatomy homework would have to wait until later.   
  
I jumped slightly when my apartment buzzer sounded and   
  
padded across the carpeted floor to the door.  
  
"Hello?" I wasn't sure who would be here now. The   
  
girls were all busy with last-minute preparations, and I   
  
thought that my excuse about needing to spend more quality   
  
time with my mother would have held up for at least another   
  
hour or so.  
  
"Ami-chan? Hey, it's me," Zach's voice rammed into my   
  
senses, and I almost tripped over a shoe as I jumped back. He   
  
and I had silently and shyly melded into a couple after that   
  
blissful night at the rink, and Urawa's face was nothing more   
  
than a blur of color in the farthest corner of my mind at   
  
this point. With the sound of his voice my stomach knotted itself  
  
into tangles with anticipation. I hadn't realized how much I  
  
missed him.  
  
After regaining what little composure I could muster, I   
  
cleared my throat and pressed the answer button.  
  
"Zach?" There was a pause, and I furrowed my brow, praying   
  
that he hadn't left already.   
  
"Yeah, how's the studying coming?"   
  
I sucked in a breath and eyed the blank paper resting on   
  
my coffee table.  
  
"It's...not."  
  
He chuckled, "I can understand that. So you wanna   
  
take a break and come get something to eat with me?   
  
Nothing could have stopped the grin that stretched   
  
across my face, nor the heavy thumping of my heart.   
  
Yes.  
  
"You still there, Ami?"   
  
Stupid! You're supposed to SAY 'yes' not THINK it!  
  
"Um, yeah, sorry--sure, I'd love to go. Give me a few   
  
minutes," I was fidgeting around waiting for his response   
  
when I realized that I hadn't done laundry in ages.   
  
Oh no.  
  
"Sure, no problem. See you in a few."  
  
I tried to ignore the increasing pounding in my heart   
  
as I tore through my closet for an outfit.  
  
"Too big."  
  
"Too green."  
  
"Too grandma-ish."  
  
"Is that Mom's?"  
  
"Spaghetti stain."  
  
Sighing exasperatedly, I grabbed a pair of light blue   
  
stretchy track pants and a matching sweat shirt that Minako   
  
had shipped all the way from America a few months before. I   
  
was definitely not wearing anything that required foot-wear   
  
that would could pose any potential threat to my already   
  
abused feet.  
  
The material was velvety and clung to my legs and torso   
  
nicely I noticed as I sped over to the mirror for a quick once-over.  
  
As I reached for the jacket, I looked in the mirror again   
  
and gasped.  
  
"This is not happening to me!" Not only was my hair was   
  
dissheveled and tangly, but I had a gigantic red hand-print on   
  
my cheek from resting it in my palm during my "studying."  
  
Quickly, I applied some make-up, brushed my hair, threw   
  
on my jacket, and flung myself out of the apartment...   
  
Thirteen seconds later I tore through the door again,   
  
grabbed my keys and shoes, and locked it behind me.  
  
On the elevator I took deep, calming breaths to tame my   
  
rambunctious heart beat while hopping up and down, trying to stuff  
  
my sore feet into a pair of white Adidas.  
  
Be calm, be cool, be collected.  
  
Easier said than done when your boyfriend looked like he   
  
should have been gracing the cover of GQ.   
  
The ride was slower than I anticipated, and I nervously  
  
tugged at the white tank top underneath my jacket and ran my fingers   
  
through my hair once more. I hoped he didn't think the closet ate me or anything; I had no idea how long I'd kept him waiting.  
  
Easy, girl, just breathe.  
  
I contemplated putting on what Minako described as a   
  
'flirtatious smile', but my lips just couldn't do that little   
  
pouty thing. I'd look more like like a bull dog in heat than a   
  
flirt so I had to settle for my usual 'Ami smile.'  
  
The foreign warmth of the sun lay on my back as I approached   
  
him, steering clear of the patches of ice coating the sidewalk.   
  
His smile could have melted the entire block when   
  
he turned to me. I silently thanked whoever made it possible   
  
to have someone smile at me like that.  
  
The glint in his uniquely green eyes caused my insides  
  
to flutter instintively, and I fell into his embrace easily. The  
  
scent of his cologne wafted up my nose, and I resisted the urge  
  
to take deep gulps in the intoxicating smell of him until my face   
  
turned blue. I could definitely get used to this...  
  
"Miss me?" I mumbled against his chest.  
  
"You know it..." He bent down and didn't hesitate to   
  
claim my lips in a heated kiss. My chest burned as I responded   
  
to his lips and wondered where all that pent up emotion had   
  
come from. Had it really been three weeks since our first kiss?   
  
It seemed like yesterday.  
  
His warm hand traveled up to cup my cheek, and I leaned   
  
into his palm, giving in to the passion that traveled up and   
  
down my body.  
  
Just as I was moving to wrap my arms around his neck   
  
and continue the make-out session we had clearly begun, there   
  
was a heavy beating of fists against glass near us, and I   
  
cracked my eyes open reluctantly.  
  
Zach immediately let go of me, and I cleared my throat.  
  
"Get a room, Mizuno!" The super's wrinkly face was   
  
scrunched up like a dried prune as she started banging her   
  
cane against the pane as well, "Or I'll turn off your water for  
  
a month!" You would have never guessed she ran one of the highest   
  
priced apartment complexes in Tokyo.  
  
Her shrivled lips were set in a deep scowl when she finally  
  
teetered off, mumbling incoherently underneath her breath.  
  
My face burned a bright hue of pink, and Zach turned to me,   
  
laughing openly.  
  
"Tell me that wasn't your mother."  
  
I rolled my eyes and grabbed his hand, tugging him along  
  
the sidewalk and willing my face to cool off. If Chai-san told my  
  
mother I'd been sucking face with some guy for all of Tokyo to see...  
  
I'd never hear the end of it.  
  
He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and squeezed,   
  
"She's charming, really--I can see where you get your good looks   
  
from," He brought his lips close to my ear and tried to bite at   
  
it, but I placed my hand on his face and pushed it away, making   
  
sure we were far enough away from the building.  
  
When we rounded a corner, I threw my arms around his neck and   
  
slammed my lips against his.  
  
What am I doing?  
  
He responded after the initial shock and we resumed our heated  
  
embrace where we left off.  
  
Whatever it is...I'm beginning to like it...  
  
What ever happened to the old Mizuno Ami--good riddance!   
  
I was enjoying this new, more bold Ami. But, then again, old habits   
  
die hard, right?  
  
I broke our kiss reluctantly, suddenly aware of what I'd   
  
done and how many stares we were receiving.  
  
Zach smiled smugly and wrapped his arm around my waist   
  
as if nothing had happened at all.  
  
"I can't believe I just did that," I muttered to myself,   
  
wondering if placing a paper bag over my head might cover the   
  
burning red that was painted on its surface for the second time   
  
in the past five minutes.  
  
He squeezed my waist and shrugged, "Hey, I have no   
  
complaints whatsoever. In fact, any time you feel like pouncing  
  
on me in public areas again you definitely have my advanced   
  
approval."  
  
Cue the eye roll.  
  
After a few minutes of walking, I broke the comfortable silence.  
  
"So, where are we going?" I really didn't care where the   
  
heck we were going, but at the time it sounded appropriate to ask.  
  
"It's near cam-HOLY SHIT!"  
  
I grunted as my knees crashed onto the frozen ground,  
  
and Zach's body shoved me across the side walk. My chest heaved   
  
over my heavily beating heart, and I shook my head a little to clear   
  
the fog. Zach's arm was wrapped around my waist tightly, and he sat   
  
hunched in front of me, shielding me from whatever was causing the earsplitting screeches blaring from behind his body.  
  
There goes lunch...  
  
I fought the urge to roll my eyes in annoyance.  
  
I pasted on my 'I'm so confused and scared and utterly helpless  
  
because there's no way I could POSSIBLY kick this stupid  
  
youma's big ugly ass. I am afterall a regular, everyday,  
  
average civillian' face.  
  
"Zach?" I whimpered underneath him. There was an  
  
extrememly annoying metal pipe sticking out of the wall  
  
I was plastered against, and it was currently digging a  
  
hole through the small of my back.  
  
I craned my neck up to look at his face. He was  
  
breathing heavily as well, his green eyes wide with stupor.  
  
"What...the...FUCK...?"  
  
He swallowed, daring to take a glance over his shoulder  
  
only to roll quickly to the right, dragging me uncerimoniously  
  
along with him.  
  
And Tokyo Antiques ceased to exist.  
  
Zach was now standing. He tugged me up by my elbows  
  
and sped around the corner that would have been there,  
  
had the wall it belonged to not been pulverized moments   
  
before.  
  
"Damn...hope they had insurance." He muttered,  
  
still staring with his eyes bulging out of his head.  
  
"Zach!" It was my turn to push him out of the way.  
  
He shook his head roughly and started to run with me.  
  
As we raced farther down the street, the ground rumbled  
  
underneath our feet.  
  
"Are those...tires?" Zach kept craning his neck  
  
around to look behind us and I pulled his arm harder.  
  
"I'd rather not--AH!"  
  
My face slammed hard into the ground, scraping  
  
against the freezing cement painfully.  
  
"Ugh...yes...definitely tires." I grumbled  
  
underneath mouthfuls of asphalt.  
  
Actually, a rather giddy team of tires larger  
  
than elephants were bouncing gleefully from place to place   
  
in the street which was flooded with screeching pedestrians.  
  
Trails of fire erupted from the ground as they  
  
skidded across it, pausing every now and then to rise fifty  
  
feet into the air and free fall into the ground causing  
  
mini-earthquakes and collosal craters.  
  
My nose was resting inches from the edge of one of   
  
the larger tire's newest addition to their crater collection,   
  
and Zach and I rose and ran around it.  
  
The smell of burnt rubber wafted up my nose, and   
  
was so thick in the air that I could barely breathe over it.  
  
My poor eardrums nearly self-combusted as a voice  
  
undeniably identical to that of screeching tires sliced  
  
through the air.  
  
"More! More! HEE HEE!"   
  
Zach groaned and slapped his hands over his ears.  
  
The owner, a youma that looked to made out of a   
  
cross between a four wheeler and dump truck, zoomed around  
  
the corner, cackling worse than a thousand finger nails  
  
screeching on a chalk board.  
  
As if to answer their master's command, the tires  
  
simultaneously rose into the air and collided with the frozen   
  
ground promplty thereafter. My legs buckled underneath me  
  
as the ground vibrated violently.  
  
Handfuls of grocery shoppers were screaming their  
  
tired lungs out from having fallen into the pits unknowingly,  
  
their forgotten shopping carts and grocery bags laying  
  
abandoned along the sidewalks.  
  
"We have to get...out of here." I shook with  
  
coughs, and wearily followed behind Zach as we dodged   
  
around flying tires and gigantic potholes.  
  
"Zach! OVER HERE! WE'RE-OVER-HEERRREE!!!"  
  
I screeched to a halt beside Zach and   
  
squinted my eyes. I could barely make out a blur   
  
of blonde that was popping in and out of one of   
  
the craters.  
  
"OV-ER-HERE!" Each syllable was annunciated  
  
with a pop-up flash of yellow.  
  
Zach grabbed my wrist and we raced to the hole.  
  
"Jason! What the hell are you doing down there?"  
  
Zach stared for a few seconds at his friend hopping  
  
uselessly up and down in the hole he was occupying  
  
with another rather pissed off looking male.   
  
"Gee, Zach. I just thought I'd find a nice  
  
CRATER lying around and catch up on autoshop while  
  
a million possessed monster-truck rejects bounce   
  
all over me!"  
  
Zach snorted, futilely trying not to laugh.  
  
"You laugh, Braudell, and I'm going to kill you."  
  
Matt threatened and tried to hop out of the hole again,   
  
barely missing the edge by centimeters.  
  
While Zach erupted into mad laughter, I   
  
bent over the hole and extended my arm for Jason  
  
to grab onto.  
  
"Help me out here, Jason..." I grunted,  
  
trying not to be tugged down myself as he swung  
  
from my wrist like Tarzan.  
  
Zach's chuckles were wearing off.  
  
"Zach, I could...use a little help here  
  
if you don't mind."  
  
He instantly sobered, leaning over the edge  
  
and together we hefted Jason out of the hole.  
  
Matt scoffed, "Hurry up already! I've got  
  
a bone to pick with Mr. Goodyear."  
  
Zach pulled him out with minor difficultly  
  
and dusted off his hands.  
  
"Aw damn...," Jason groaned, "Mrs. Buttersworth  
  
didn't make it."  
  
He held up a sticky brown bottle and watched  
  
despondently as streams of thick syrup dripped down its  
  
sides and onto the ground.  
  
"You'll live," Matt succintly replied, knocking  
  
the bottle out his hands and turning back around to face  
  
the shopping nightmare.  
  
I fought the urge to transform and turned around  
  
in search of any signs of the senshi. As if on cue,   
  
my communicator sounded from the inside of my coat  
  
pocket.   
  
"You have a cell phone? GREAT." Jason jumped  
  
in front of me, "Better call Maaco."  
  
Matt rewarded him with a sound smack on his  
  
head and Jason frowned.  
  
"I though it was funny."  
  
I laughed tightly.  
  
"Um, Zach. I should go and get some help."  
  
Zach immediately snapped back into reality  
  
and nodded. "Yeah, I'll go with you."  
  
Next try.  
  
"No!" I laughed nervously, "Um, I mean,  
  
Jason seems to really be hurt. You should  
  
stay with him."  
  
Jason furrowed his brow and turned around and   
  
around trying to find any injuries he might have missed.  
  
"Um, I'm not--"  
  
I leapt over to him and peered at his back.  
  
"Nope, I see something right...," I flicked my wrist  
  
and a pocket sized blue flame appeared in my palm. I placed  
  
it near his back and he yelped, "Here."  
  
Sorry about that, Jason.  
  
I made a mental note to heal that later. I'd been  
  
dumbfounded the first day I realized the healing powers  
  
of Mercury during a swim meet. A rookie, Saki Ralia, had  
  
taken in too much water out of nerves and had fallen  
  
unconscious in the water. I'd been the first to her and   
  
as soon as I reached my hand over her chest, she'd faintly  
  
been encased in blue light and sprung back to life.  
  
I hadn't perfected my healing powers yet, but I  
  
could definitely heal minor injuries and broken bones.  
  
"Jesus...that hurts like hell. Where'd that come  
  
from?" He twisted his neck to try and see his back.  
  
Matt inspected the burn and shrugged.  
  
"Yeah, so you should stay. I'll be really  
  
quick, promise!" With that, I ran off, leaving  
  
Jason to his ice-burn and the others with confused  
  
frowns.  
  
I took a moment to calm the breaths that were  
  
leaving my chapped lips in quick, labored puffs of foggy  
  
white. The dump-truck youma raised itself on his back  
  
two wheels and revved its engine, slamming back onto  
  
the ground and rumbling in every direction possible.  
  
"Mercury Crystal Power!"   
  
None of the desperately screaming victims  
  
of the rampaging tires saw the eruption of blinding  
  
blue light from behind the partially demolished   
  
grocery store. They continued to scream, their  
  
voices muted by the screeching of the youma and  
  
its accomplices.  
  
A handful of victims had been burned from the   
  
rivers of fire which streaked the ground from the  
  
massive tires and were flailing on the ground  
  
to put themselves out.   
  
I heard the sound of sirens faintly in  
  
the distance and cursed underneath my breath.   
  
Whenever the police or fire department got involved,  
  
the rate of casualties seemed to escalate thanks  
  
to the number of "Super Cops" who would valiantly  
  
put themselves in front of a twenty foot monster  
  
with the inclination that their little toy guns  
  
would scare them away.  
  
"Hold it flame-breath!"  
  
About damn time. I thought.  
  
Sailor Moon leapt out of seemingly no where,   
  
followed closely by Venus, Mars and Jupiter. I  
  
melted back into the shadows of the shopping store  
  
ruins and opted to attack by surprise. They definitely  
  
needed a water attack, and it needed to be exactly  
  
on target.  
  
I cringed when Sailor Mars threw a barrage of fireballs   
  
circling towards the youma's exposed underside as it popped a   
  
wheel-y, and it exploded into a massive ball of pulsing flames.   
  
When the fire withered away, the youma was left, obnoxiously intact  
  
and extremely pissed.  
  
Mars jumped clear of a tire duet and dodged  
  
a cascade of gasoline that erupted from the youma's   
  
back bumpers like silly string.  
  
Venus grabbed Mars' arm with her chain seconds  
  
before she had a chance to fall face first into  
  
one of the craters.  
  
"Jupiter! Hold it with the electricity, would  
  
you?!" Sailor Moon yelled, trying to avoid being fried crispy  
  
as the youma spat Jupiter's electric attacks back at her  
  
in mini-electric fire balls.  
  
Jupiter shrugged, her shoulders sagging at her  
  
obvious shortcoming.  
  
"GEE. I SURE WISH WE HAD SOME WATER TO PUT  
  
THIS THING OUT WITH," Venus yelled conspicuously, her  
  
blonde head turning slowly in every direction in search  
  
of me.  
  
I jumped. I'd been too preoccupied with watching  
  
the scene unfold and disecting the youma's attack rate to  
  
follow through with my earlier plan.  
  
Edging my way past a few tires that were teaming  
  
up to pound away a hot dog stand, I leapt atop a mountain  
  
of debris and powered up my attack.  
  
My break came when the youma backed up and began  
  
screeching towards the senshi on its side. Gasoline and  
  
fire soared out of its middle and front bumpers in sheets  
  
of destruction.  
  
"MERCURY AQUA RASPHODY!"  
  
The car screeched to a halt, jiggling around  
  
as its projectile flames sizzled away to nothing. It  
  
stood on its back wheels as if it were a dog begging for  
  
someone to drop it a pork chop and hopped around, animatedly  
  
screeching.  
  
"Glad you could take a hint, Merc." Venus and   
  
the others appeared at my side in the blink of an eye.  
  
I shrugged, "Sorry. I was with Zach."  
  
They nodded, turning once again to the youma  
  
who had recovered considerably.  
  
"Yeah, well, we would have been here sooner,   
  
but MARS was too busy looking at these "OH SO PERFECT"   
  
platforms," Venus looked pointedly at her, and Mars   
  
scoffed.   
  
Jupiter tapped Venus' shoulder, "You guys, if   
  
you want to continue this little battle later, I highly   
  
suggest you do so, because we're about to be Senshi   
  
road-kill if we don't MOVE NOW!" She pulled their  
  
arms and we jumped out of the path of a jumbo-tire.  
  
I ungracefully tripped over an abandoned shopping   
  
cart and landed painfully on my kneecaps. Jupiter helped  
  
me stand without words, and we ducked again. A spear  
  
of fire grazed the baby hairs on my neck.  
  
For the first time since I'd encountered  
  
the eccentric truck-youma, it spoke coherently.  
  
"CHILD'S PLAY!" It spat, the headlights  
  
blinking in the sun.   
  
Venus and Moon straightened from just having  
  
reduced a handful of tires to fragments of black rubber.  
  
Jupiter's fingertips crackled with pent up  
  
energy and she curled them up tightly into a fist.  
  
"Who are you working for, youma?!" Venus  
  
asked loudly, her stone cold eyes a mask of confidence  
  
and intimidation.  
  
The youma slammed back down on all fours with  
  
a crash and revved its engine as if it were annoyed.  
  
"I WANT THE ONE WHO POSSESS THE HIKARI GEM!"  
  
It growled, the now familiar screeching voice lowered  
  
to actually bearable.  
  
"YOU HIDE HER!" It rumbled, bursts of flame  
  
spurting out from its "mouth" and sizzling on the ground.  
  
Sailor Moon's blonde eyebrows were raised in   
  
confusion, "Hide who?" She said, almost to herself.  
  
"I MUST HAVE THE HIKARI GEM!" The youma   
  
screeched back to its furious stage of spitting fire  
  
in all directions, and began swirling around in donuts   
  
across the ground, waves of gasoline and fire leaving  
  
its sides in circles.  
  
Jupiter raised her index finger to her temple  
  
and twirled it around, "Seems like he's not the shiniest  
  
car in the lot, if ya know what I mean," She deadpanned,  
  
shrugging at our exasperated looks.  
  
"GIVE-IT-TO-MEEE!!" The youma's voice escalated  
  
back to thousand-finger-nails-on-chalk-board level and   
  
Mars threw her gloved hands over her ears.  
  
"Let's just dust his psycho ass already!" She  
  
yelled over its insistent ramblings.  
  
"VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!" Venus' attack  
  
slammed into the car's side, sending it into a fit of   
  
pain, and Jupiter and Mars (despite my warnings) fired  
  
their own attacks as if they longed for nothing more than  
  
to see it explode into a million discombobulated peices of  
  
sheet metal.  
  
They were hardly disappointed.  
  
I shielded my eyes from the massive explosion.   
  
Sailor Moon yelped and fanned out a lock of her singed  
  
hair.  
  
The satisfied looks in their eyes almost  
  
made me shiver. Those two were far more intimidating  
  
as senshi than...well, never mind. They were just  
  
plain intimidating--period.  
  
As the flames and smoke dispersed, we viewed  
  
the ghastly looking youma which was charred and melted  
  
beyond recognition. Sailor Moon walked toward it with  
  
her nose in the air and promptly finished it off  
  
with a 'HA!'.  
  
Dispirited over their master's defeat, the  
  
army of tires circled the pile of ashes that lay in  
  
its wake and crowded onto it in a mound of smelly  
  
rubber.  
  
The senshi and I watched in confusion before  
  
the dismal pile erupted into flames as well, vanishing  
  
completely, leaving the strong smell of burnt rubber   
  
and gasoline in the air.  
  
Mars and Jupiter dusted their hands off, and Moon  
  
exhaled heavily.   
  
Venus gasped, "God...Look at this place."  
  
But I didn't.   
  
Hikari Gem?  
  
The youma had sparked a candle of curiosity  
  
in my mind and it grew more luminous with each second.  
  
I shrugged out of my thoughts, opting to put them  
  
off until the senshi and I could talk later.  
  
When I did view our surroundings, I had to swallow  
  
the gasp of disbelief. I felt as if I were in one of those  
  
over-done war movies, joyful that the war had ended, but   
  
instantly reminded of what had been lost.  
  
Sailor Moon put her hand over her mouth in   
  
her stupor. Jupiter kicked a hunk of rock with the toe  
  
of her boot. An acrimonious glint flashed in her emerald eyes.  
  
The grounds were littered with debris--demolished  
  
buildings, piles of unidentifiable objects still being   
  
slowly devoured by hungry flames.  
  
Moans of anguish reached my ears, digging into  
  
my heart painfully. I bit my lip and knelt beside a groaning  
  
woman, her legs pinned beneath a slab of cement.   
  
"M-minna! Help me!" I yelled, my eyes clouded by  
  
rueful tears. Jupiter and Venus were first by my side.   
  
"No, wait. We can't just take it off. We might  
  
damage something," I said over the lump in my throat.   
  
The woman's face darkened once more, and I saw the   
  
last bit of hope flee from her eyes.   
  
"What can we do for her, Mercury?" Venus asked   
  
quietly. I tried not to look in to the woman's painfilled  
  
eyes, although I was sure she couldn't feel her legs by now.  
  
"Move over," I said shortly, pushing past Jupiter  
  
and kneeling next to her.   
  
"Jupiter, Venus, when I say lift, you lift." I   
  
instructed, the iciness of my voice causing them to do  
  
so without question.  
  
I placed my hands near the small gap between the  
  
slab and the ground.  
  
"LIFT!"  
  
They grunted and lifted it as high as they could.  
  
"Higher!" I said, my voice sounding almost  
  
desperate. Jupiter strained, gritting her teeth. The  
  
cement suddenly raised a foot higher, and Mars and Moon  
  
were lifting as well.  
  
The woman moaned more, and I quickly shoved my hands  
  
over her midsection, ignoring the blood oozing from her  
  
legs and stomach in a steady stream.   
  
_ Mercury Remefy!_  
  
I closed my eyes shakily, feeling my healing powers  
  
drain from my body and into my fingertips. The woman's body  
  
was slowly encased in an azure glow.  
  
I sensed the strain on my energy. I felt my powers  
  
waver and then rise back again. I didn't stop.   
  
When I could make myself push no longer, my hands  
  
fell limply into my lap and I crumbled onto the ground,   
  
gasping uncontrollably.  
  
The senshi grunted loudly when Venus removed   
  
her hands from the edge of the cement, and produced her   
  
love-chain. She wrapped it quickly around the slab and   
  
tugged as hard as her arms were willing.  
  
The slab fell backwards with a boom that echoed  
  
off the charred walls around us.  
  
I was panting, finding breathing all together  
  
to be an extremely difficult task. Sailor Moon knelt  
  
beside me and began to slowly rub my back.   
  
Suddenly, I felt as if I were standing under a   
  
spring of warm water, bathing in the addicting feeling   
  
of it as it washed over my body and cleansed away any   
  
traces of darkness that were there.  
  
My lungs filled as if they were inhaling for  
  
the first time. I lifted my head, astounded at actually  
  
having the energy to do so and looked into her sapphire eyes  
  
thankfully. Her lips curved slightly and she put her hand  
  
on my shoulder, rising and pulling me along with her.  
  
The woman who had minutes before been saying farewell   
  
to her dithering life, opened her amber eyes wide and shakily   
  
rose onto her perfectly healed legs.  
  
I exhaled heavily, seeing the light of hope  
  
and awe shining in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around  
  
my torso tightly, whatever words she had the urge to   
  
mutter were smothered by her quiet sobs.  
  
I smiled hesitantly and removed her arms   
  
from around me. She grinned, amazed, at all of us   
  
in turn and turned from us with a sigh of a renewed   
  
spirit. A whimper startled her for a moment and as the   
  
senshi and I headed off, she embraced her tiny ashen-  
  
faced son with heart-wrenching sobs of relief.  
  
We did what we could after that. Venus  
  
lifted people out of the deep holes with her chain,  
  
and Jupiter and Mars created light in order for  
  
us to be able to see in the rapidly darkening night.   
  
I gritted my teeth and tucked the pain into its   
  
reserved spot in the darkest corner of my heart, and didn't   
  
look into the pain-filled eyes of the wounded. I'd broken  
  
a silent code when I healed that woman, but the feeling to  
  
undo what had been so unjustly done to her had been too  
  
overwhelming.  
  
Soon, fire trucks and ambulances arrived, and  
  
we stealthily disappeared from sight. Sailor Moon  
  
glanced despondently behind her back and sighed.  
  
It was then that I remembered the pair of   
  
strickeningly green eyes that had watched my back  
  
as I hurried off two hours before without return and   
  
halted in my steps.   
  
"What's wrong, Mercury?" Sailor Moon touched  
  
my arm.  
  
I glanced behind us once more, "I left Zach...  
  
and Jason and Matt," I began to backtrack, "I have to  
  
make sure they're alright. What if..."  
  
I trailed off, my eyes wide with worry. Moon  
  
reached for my elbow.  
  
"I'm sure they're fine, Mercury. Let's  
  
detransform and then we can look for them." She  
  
steered me back to our previous direction of travel  
  
and we emerged from the alleyway seconds later  
  
as five, all but average, college freshmen.   
  
Rei wrung her hands in front of her and  
  
nervously wrapped her black scarf more tightly  
  
around her neck. Minako adjusted her ski hat  
  
on her head, and Makoto picked up her pace.  
  
"Where'd you see them last, Ami-chan?"  
  
Rei questioned, her purple gaze flitting over the  
  
scene we had only just been able to leave to our  
  
memories.  
  
I thought for a moment. Mrs. Buttersworth.  
  
"Over near that grocery store," I pointed and  
  
instantly dropped my arm. The grocery store was now   
  
another field of debris.  
  
We began to run toward the site, searching  
  
frantically for three familiar faces.   
  
Zach, please be alright. I repeated  
  
the phrase over and over in my mind until it played  
  
repetitively.  
  
"I'm telling you! I saw them! MINI-SKIRTS!"  
  
Rei stiffened in place.  
  
"No, I'm not delirious! They were like Super  
  
Barbies! Hey, are you taping this or what?!"  
  
We bolted around.   
  
"I know that voice..." Rei uttered. We  
  
followed her as she began running towards a cluster  
  
of people with cameras and flashing lights.  
  
"Ass hole!" She exclaimed once we reached the  
  
small ensemble.  
  
Jason's eyes, navy looking in the dark night,  
  
flew to Rei's face and stared blankly before brightening.  
  
"Hey, Rei! Come here!" He smiled widely, running  
  
over to Rei and tugging her with him to the middle of the  
  
group, "SEE! One of them looked kinda like her!" He   
  
exclaimed.  
  
Rei scoffed, "Jason! What the HELL-oh...heh heh,  
  
are we on T.V.?" She smiled nervously at the camera lens  
  
that was currently shoved in face.  
  
A news reporter with a quirking eye brow and a mound   
  
of silvering hair (heavy on the hair-spray) leaned in closer   
  
to the couple, "Now, tell us, Mr.--Jason, was it? Just how  
  
many of these "Super Barbies" did you see?"  
  
He rolled his eyes in exasperation and launched  
  
into a re-telling of his near-death experience and how  
  
a quintet of mini-skirt wearing chicks rescued him from  
  
the end of his life. I left him to his imagination.  
  
Rei kept her eyes on the camera, quickly   
  
smoothing down the flyaway strands of her inky hair,   
  
and smiled charmingly from his arm. I gave it five   
  
minutes before she broke out in song.   
  
"Ami!"  
  
Yes. That was the one thing in the entire  
  
world that I wanted to hear at the moment. I was   
  
afraid to turn around and meet the face that had been  
  
floating in my vision for the past ten minutes, for   
  
fear of it being an illusion.  
  
So, I stayed rooted to the spot.  
  
Something warm grabbed my shoulders and pulled  
  
me around, and I was staring into his eyes, feeling his  
  
touch, hearing his voice, and yet, I still wasn't   
  
convinced.  
  
Zach wrapped his arms around my neck in a   
  
tight hug, and I hesitantly stretched my own around his  
  
waist.  
  
"Zach..." I closed my eyes and let myself  
  
melt into his embrace.  
  
He removed his arms from around me and put his  
  
hands on either side of my face.  
  
"God, Ami. You had me scared shitless, do  
  
you know that?" He chuckled lightly.  
  
My eyes were blurred by tears of instant  
  
relief and I laughed against his hands.  
  
His lips crashed against mine before I  
  
could respond further, and I was seeing swirls.  
  
I felt as if I were kissing him for  
  
the first time all over again. He ran his hand  
  
through my disheveled indigo locks, and cupped  
  
one of my cheeks with his palm.  
  
"And here we have a lovely couple, just  
  
rejoined after the horrific battle that took place  
  
here only an hour before. No one knows who or what  
  
these latest monsters are, but the true mystery is the  
  
phantom senshi who seem to appear just in the nick  
  
of time only to vanish..." The news reporter droned on,   
  
and I smiled against Zach's lips.  
  
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
  
Ch. 9 will be out next week! dont 4get to hit that little review button! ;-) 


	9. 9 Change of Plans

TO GO, PLEASE

Chapter 9: Change of Plans

Rating: PG13

Author: Adrial

TO GO, PLEASE

Disclaimer: Don't own it, don't want it.

Hey! I'm back! This chapter is not really that eventful, but

we finally get into the origin of the 'Hikari Gem' and it's not

what you may think...

Enjoy!

-----------------------------------------------------------

"NO! NO! NO! NO!" Rei screeched into her cell phone,

her free hand making a sharp right into a shopping complex.

"That's not what you--but-I thought--," Her eyes were

blazing with irritation, and Jason and I exchanged glances.

When she'd offered to pick us up from our afternoon

classes, I had no idea that meant fearing for my life while

she drove like a road maniac on the freeway, screaming bloody

murder into a piece of plastic.

"Who in the hell makes a dress code change two days

before the event?!" She rubbed her forehead with two fingers and

sighed, "Fine."

She stayed on the phone for a few more minutes, mumbling

answers, before flipping her cell closed and growling.

There was a pitiful 'beep' as her head collided with

the steering wheel.

Jason rubbed her back in comforting circles, "Rei?

What's wrong?"

She lifted her head, looked at him for a second or two,

and I swore she would have started to bawl from the look in her

eyes.

Instead, she twisted around and smiled tightly at me, "So,

Ami-chan? Ya feel like shopping?"

Apparently ball apparel didn't quite appeal with MTV

audiences, so the new theme was "Less is More."

It was beyond me how anyone could wear anything off of

the rack Minako was shuffling through frantically. She had asked

(begged) her agent to allow us to raid Glamour's wardrobe room and

(permanently) borrow a few outfits.

The entire experience was worse than having all four of

my wisdom teeth pulled in the ninth grade and then breaking my arm

the day after.

Rei had decided to look at the bright side: Free clothes.

"Gimme that one, Minako," She eagerly took the black halter

from Minako's hands and held it up to her chest.

"Too trashy?"

Affirmative nods all around.

"I'll take it!" She exclaimed, tucking it under her arm

and sifting around for a pair of jeans to match.

"Rei, since when is looking like a two dollar ho your

style?" Makoto inquired.

Rei turned to her and said slowly, "Fifty grand, Makoto.

Fifty grand."

Seeing her point, Makoto shrugged and stuck out her tongue

at a hot pink mini skirt Usagi handed to her.

"How 'bout NOT," She said, shoving it away.

Usagi, disappointed, took the skirt herself.

"It's going to be hell trying to return my dress," She

sighed and forced me to take a baby blue see-through blouse from

her hands.

Rei offered, "Don't worry about it. If I win, I'll pay for all

of your dresses," and greedily took a red suede skirt from Minako.

"You better," Makoto added.

I thought longingly of the pain I'd gone through to find

my own dress; I was still upset that I wouldn't be able to wear

it, but I was sure there would be other opportunities.

"Oh, come ON, Ami-chan!" Minako yelled.

"NO."

"Geez, stop being so modest! This is 2004, hon, not 1937."

I stared at my reflection with a nauseous feeling in the pit

of my stomach, which, by the way, was extremely exposed in the bare

mid-drift halter top I was wearing.

Before I could stop them, three pairs of hands shoved the

dressing room door open and pulled me out.

Puffing with indignation, I tugged the shirt down as much

as I could, a little unnerved at being under the microscope.

Minako slapped my hands away, "You'll stretch it out, Ami."

I gave her a "Do you think I care?" look, which she promptly

ignored and placed a denim mini skirt up to my hips.

I went for my last defense. "Are you aware of the fact

that this is the middle of DECEMBER?"

Rei and Minako stared at me as if they weren't sure what

my point was, and I sighed in defeat.

"Ames, you have to admit," Rei adjusted the halter at my

neck, "With those legs, and this skirt, you're going to kill

at the show."

My legs? Since when could they kill anything?

"Can I at least try on some jeans or something?" I looked

longingly at the full rack of Juicy hip huggers standing a few

feet away.

Makoto, Minako, and Rei eyed each other, deliberating my

request with their eyes.

I fingered the hem of the skirt, wondering if they'd

notice if I made a mad dash for the exit and never came back.

Before any such action could take place, however, they

turned back to me and begrudgingly nodded.

"But they better be low-waist!" Minako warned, "It's about

time you lived a little."

Feeling as if the world was finally going my way, I

pounced on the cart and began filing through while the trio

scrutinized Usagi's knee length white, strapless dress. It

was cotton/spandex and thin, hugging her curves like they'd

been made for her alone to wear.

"Something's missing," Minako declared and immediately

removed a denim Fred Segal jacket from a hanger behind her, placing

it over Usagi's bare shoulders and standing back to admire her

handy work.

"Makoto, hand me that turquoise pendant necklace," She

requested as if they were performing surgery.

"Necklace," Makoto handed it to her.

Biting her lip, Minako snapped her fingers, "Beige sling

backs!"

"One pair of feet-killers coming right up," Rei scurried

off to retrieve said feet-killers, while Minako waited (im)patiently

for her to return.

Usagi fiddled with her necklace, eyeing herself in the

mirror with a critical gaze.

When Rei had finally gotten the shoes, Usagi slipped

them on and twirled for a 360 degree look.

"Perfect," Minako clapped her hands together, and

Usagi beamed.

"You should dress me more often, Minako," She adjusted

the jacket on her shoulders, and Minako waved a hand dismissively.

"What kind of fashion apprentice would I be if I didn't

share my impeccable taste with my girls?"

Rei "accidentally" tossed a shoe at her butt and whistled

innocently at Minako's glare.

"You break it, you bought it, Pyro."

Makoto chose that moment to exit the dressing room,

sporting a pair of sandblasted jeans and a rather conservative

white button up blouse. Minako fixed the 'conservative' aspect

of it by unbuttoning the first four buttons, then exuberantly

shoving a pair of tan boots in her hand.

I, on the other side of the room, had picked up the

first pair of jeans I saw, which happened to be dark denim and

low cut (for Minako's benefit, not mine).

Seeing that I'd finished, she nodded approval of the

jeans and handed me a crocheted white halter to match.

I grabbed it from her, saying with my eyes that I wanted

to get the hell out of there before they even thought about handing

me a matching pair of--

"Ami needs feet-killers!" Rei yelled over to Usagi.

I groaned audibly.

"Don't be a baby, this is MTV. You have to look like you

were made to be there," Minako said.

Begrudgingly, I forced the white stiletto heeled boots

on, gasping at the $900 price tag that poked out of one of their

sides.

"Alright, are we outta here?" Rei checked on each of us,

stuffing a couple of accessories and purses into her bag.

Minako nodded, folding her garment bag over her arm.

Inside was the golden leather tube top she'd discovered underneath

Rei's "Hell NO" pile of clothing and a matching skirt.

And so we headed out, finally.

I idly watched the white lines on the road go by as Rei

zoomed down the highway.

We were late.

"Luna's going to kill us," Usagi said.

"I'm going as fast as I can," Rei growled, "We'll

deal with the fur balls when we get there."

We still hadn't discussed the battle from two days

before, and I was eager to get to it.

"Hey! Don't call Artie fur ball! You know he hates

that," Minako yelled from beside me.

Artemis also hated when Minako called him 'Artie', but

that was another story all together.

Usagi turned on the radio and proceeded to do her horrible

rendition of "In Da Club" by that guy, 75 cents, or whatever

his name was.

"Usagi, if you want to see the light of day again, I

suggest you stop-SINGING!" Rei screeched, nearly veering off

of the road. Usagi crossed her arms over her chest.

"Grouch."

"Klutz."

"Pyro."

"Odango."

"Mrs. Jason Ronweld."

"USAGI!"

"Bye, Minna-chan, and remember," Makoto slammed the

door and poked her head in through Usagi's open window, "I want

to know everything later tonight."

Rei waved her off, "Yeah, yeah, Makoto, we know. Now get

going before we're all even more late."

Makoto smiled, "Ja!"

"Good luck, Mako!" Usagi yelled.

Today was Makoto's culinary midterm, and she tried to

juggle her bag full of cooking supplies as she threw open the

door to the lecture hall.

Making sure she didn't fall and hurt herself before

they left, Rei hit the gas after the door closed behind her, and

we were off...again.

Usagi sighed, "Why didn't I pick culinary arts as a

major?"

Rei scoffed as if the answer were blatantly obvious,

"Because first: you'd blow up whatever you were baking, and

second: you'd eat everyone else's food, therefore failing

them and yourself."

"And when was the last time you cooked anything that

didn't come in a box, PYRO?"

Minako's head fell heavily on my shoulder, "If they

keep this up, I'm going to have to throw myself out of the

window."

I nodded and placed whose ever headphones were sitting

beside me over my ears, not really caring what was in the CD

player as long as it drowned out the bickering voices that were

pounding into my head.

The mystery was soon solved as streams of acoustic guitar

lulled me into a state of semi-consciousness.

Could have been worst I thought.

"It's about time," Luna's cinnamon eyes were blazing

with irritation.

The four of us entered the sitting room of Rei's temple,

heads bowed as if we were on death row.

"Sorry, Luna," Usagi mumbled, and we nodded in agreement.

Luna merely scoffed and flicked her tail. She seemed to

be on edge about something today.

Artemis smiled meekly from beside her with an apologetic

look in his sapphire eyes, and Minako dared to scratch him behind

his ears.

"Hey Artie," She cooed, forgetting for a second that he

was her guardian. Artemis nipped at her hand, "Don't call me Artie!"

Taken aback, Minako looked at her finger with a frown, "Who

pissed in your catnip this morning?"

Luna scoffed again and sat back on her hind legs, "We have

important issues to discuss, senshi. Let's get started."

We plopped our bags in a corner of the room and took

seats on the giant throw pillows that littered the floor, Luna and

Artemis in the center of our square.

Luna's eyes were grave, "What happened two days ago must

never be allowed to happen again."

I bowed my head, remembering the pain filled faces of those

who were lost and those who had lost.

Luna continued, "There were no signs of any energy

loss across the city, so we can assume that this new enemy is

not after that. The question is," She turned her eyes to me, "Where

did they come from, and what do they want?

I swallowed, suddenly feeling parched, and wrung my

hands in my lap, "The youma did say something about there being

a Hikari Gem," I offered, immediately reaching for my palm pilot

to search for any such gem and chastising myself mentally

for not doing so sooner.

Luna's eyes widened for a moment. She and Artemis exchanged

glances and she stepped closer to me.

"What exactly did the youma say about it, Ami-chan?"

I felt as if I was being interrogated by the F.B.I. all

of the sudden; even though I'd only been asked two questions, the

gravity in their voices weighed down on me. I set down my palm

pilot.

"Just that it wanted it...and the one who possessed it," I

furrowed my brow, wondering if there was some part that I'd left out or

forgotten.

Minako piped in, "The youma thought we were hiding her.

Do you think it could be Usagi?"

Luna shook her head and sighed deeply, "I'm afraid not,

Minako."

"Then...who?" Rei asked.

Artemis rose, "Luna? What do you remember about a Hikari

Gem in the Silver Millennium?"

She stared at him, not really seeing him it seemed,

and I nearly bit my nails in anticipation of what she was

going to say. For some reason, I had a feeling it had to

do with me.

When she'd had enough time to collect her thoughts, she

turned back to us and sat back again.

"The Hikari Gem is more than a stone, senshi. It was the

pivotal point of Mercury's power before its demise."

Three pairs of eyes flashed over to me before settling on

Luna again.

She continued, "Before any of you were born, Queen

Aiya, your mother, Ami-chan, was to be wed to King Sarius of

the planet Flanar. Queen Aiya, however, had already given her

heart to another man," She paused, narrowing her eyes to grasp

the memory that threatened to slip away.

"He-he was a nobleman on the Moon, and their relationship

had been extremely secretive. Only her sister, Alana, knew. When

Sarius learned of her deception, he was outraged. He ambushed

Mercury and stole the Hikari Gem from the palace."

Usagi moved to speak, but Luna held her back, "With

his already formidable power as the ruler of Flanar, Sarius was

nearly invincible with the Hikari Gem's. Only nearly, though."

Artemis urged to go on when she took a pregnant pause,

and she closed her eyes, "The Hikari Gem was not meant to kill,

and when he manipulated it to destroy countless Mercurians it

began to resist his power. He used the last of its power to

kill Queen Aiya, and it began to deteriorate."

I swallowed over the lump in my throat. My mother had

died that way? I cringed at the thought of what she must have

suffered that night.

Luna cut off my thoughts as she continued, "It is believed

that he killed one more after her without the use of the gem--your

father, Galah, Ami-chan. But it was never proven. He was found

in his home, unscathed and with no traces of foreign energy

in his body."

Both of them? I forced down a tear, surprised at the

self-control even that took.

Usagi's hand found itself on my back and rubbed

comfortingly.

"When he returned to Flanar the gem had finally finished

deterioration and self-destructed, destroying Sarius and his

planet within seconds."

I couldn't absorb the information she'd just given us

like all other knowledge I stored away as if it were easier than

breathing, and I fought to grasp pieces of it as she released it.

"You mean...he destroyed Mercury?" I furrowed my brow,

"But...then how was I born if he killed my mother?"

Luna explained, "That is the strangest part, Ami. When

Sarius killed Aiya, you were still in her womb. And when Alana

arrived on the moon, she was carrying a child--you, Ami-chan."

"No one is sure how you were transferred into her body, but

Aiya must have used some sort of magic to ensure that you would be

safe," She finished with a weary look in her eyes.

"And the Hikari Gem?" Minako questioned, "How could it

still exist after self-destructing itself?"

Artemis chose to answer, "It left behind a seed of itself,

in a way, and that seed was said to be planted in its true keeper. To

this day that person hasn't been found."

"Do you think it could be Ami?" Rei uttered, looking at me

as if I was completely different.

I looked at Luna, and she spoke, "Her ability to heal

is definitely a stem from the gem's powers, but all royal

Mercurians are equipped with that ability. I would think that

if Ami did possess the gem, we would have known by now."

I nodded. There was no way I could be the gem's true

keeper. I still couldn't fathom the deaths of my parents in such

a heartless way, and my head pounded from the amount of

information being jammed into it at once.

"If this new enemy is a descendant of Sarius, would

she be more powerful than Galaxia, Luna?" Minako asked, failing

to hide the tinge of worry behind her words.

Luna nodded solemnly, "Flanar was a dark, all-powerful

planet at the time. If he/she is from there, then there is no

telling how destructive they may be."

"So until we find the Hikari Gem, we're sitting ducks,"

Usagi concluded.

Rei rose quickly, "I'm going to do a fire reading. Maybe

there's something it can tell me that we don't already know."

Luna nodded, and we all sat in silence until she returned,

twenty minutes later.

Rei collapsed to her knees on the floor, sweat dripping

down her forehead. She breathed heavily and stared blankly at

Usagi.

"What did you see, Rei-chan?" Usagi helped her remain

sitting.

Rei took a few more deep breaths, "It-it said the evil

lies in...Usagi."

The entire room was enveloped in startled silence until

Usagi herself broke it, "Me? How could that be possible?" She

searched Luna's eyes for her to agree that the idea was ludicrous.

"Are you sure, Rei?" Luna inquired.

Rei nodded, "All it kept saying was Usagi. The evil is in

Usagi."

Before any more was spoken, I broke out my scanner and

instructed Usagi to lay down flat on her back.

She hesitated before doing so, but finally lay down.

I hurriedly found her biological data in my computer's

memory and loaded it for comparison.

A few, tense moments passed, and everyone's eyes remained

on Usagi and me.

"Nothing," I stated succinctly, "She's going to have the

flu next month, but other than that, nothing."

Usagi rose in her place and scrunched her nose, "Thanks

for the heads up, Ames."

Luna sighed, "Keep an eye out for anything suspicious,

minna. For now, we have to stay on guard. Whatever attacked two

days ago is going to be back, and we must be ready. Casualties are

unacceptable and must be prevented at all costs."

Waving goodbye to our guardians, Minako, Usagi, Rei,

and I followed each other into the kitchen. I wasn't really hungry

at all.

The next hour or so passed by slowly. Rei ordered pizza,

and Matt came by for a while after dropping off Makoto. With him

there, there was no way we could fill her in on what Luna had told

us, so we decided to shove it off until after he left.

When, finally, Makoto shut the door behind his back and

we had cleaned up the mess after dinner, we all settled down in

Rei's room and listened as she and Minako took turns recounting

Luna's story.

Makoto's eyes were wide throughout the ordeal, and she

turned sympathetic eyes to me when they had finished. I felt sincerely

uncomfortable having all of the attention drawn to me, but it was

quickly averted after Rei informed Makoto of the fire reading.

By the time we had finished, my head was throbbing, and I

popped a few Advil into my mouth, settling onto my futon to sleep.

In the dark, Usagi let out a tired yawn, collapsed on

to her pillow, and turned to me, softly smiling.

"It'll be okay, Ami-chan. You won't lose anyone else."

I leaned over to give her a hug and whispered my thanks.

Sleep claimed my body reluctantly that night as I lay

awake, gazing at the ceiling. Eventually, I managed to push

all thoughts of the Hikari Gem and my lost parents to the

back of my cluttered mind and let the gentle hands of sleep

carry me into a dreamless slumber.

------------------------------------------------------------

"AMI-CHAN! AMI-CHAN!"

My eyelids cracked open slowly, closing just as

quickly when an air-borne pillow collided with my face.

"Wake up, sleepy-head! It's almost 11!" Minako stood

at the foot of my bed, dressed and perky as usual. You could

never tell that 1/5 of the weight of the entire universe's

well-being rested on the Senshi of love's shoulders.

"I'm up, Minako-chan," I mumbled. Groggily, I stretched

and rose from the bed.

"I'm starving. Please tell me Makoto cooked," As if

to agree, my stomach growled noisily and Minako giggled.

"Duh, Ami-chan! When is that girl not in the kitchen?

Now, hurry up and get dressed--you look like hell," With

that, she bounced out of the room leaving a trail of

merry sunshine in her place.

"Gee, thanks, Mina-chan," I replied to the empty

room.

After a few minutes of washing, I slipped into

a pair of jeans and a sweater I'd brought from home. Picking

up the nearest hairbrush on Rei's dresser, I tugged it through

my tangled blue locks and suddenly missed my chin length hair.

I had let it grow out over the summer (now falling just above

my shoulders) and it was a pain in the neck for someone who wasn't

used to actually having to work with it.

The radio dully played in the background as I

slipped on some socks to warm my chilled feet and padded

down the hallway.

Makoto's laughs filled my ears as I entered the

kitchen. Usagi stood stunned with a pile of flour perched

on her nose.

"That oughta teach you to stay out of the food before

everyone's up," Makoto laughed again.

She turned to me with a forgotten hand-full of

flour and smiled.

I flinched, "Um, I think I'd like to eat my

breakfast, not wear it, thank you."

She eyed her hand and laughed, "Sorry."

"No way, Rei-chan! I totally had you!" Minako

furiously tapped away at the PS2 controller, moving with

the race car as if it'd actually make it maneuver any better.

"Whatever," Rei said dismissively.

"Does Yuuchirou know you're playing his games?" Usagi

asked, obviously annoyed at not being able to play first.

"He doesn't care. He'd probably give it to me if I

asked him," Rei said. Rei and he had dated over the summer.

It was short-lived, to say the least, and they were all the happier

for it. Yuuchirou was quick to learn that Rei was much more likely

to hurtle potentially fatal objects in his direction when they

were a couple than when he was merely her assistant at the temple.

"Food's done!" Makoto announced and placed a steaming

plate of eggs and sausage on the table.

"YES! FOOD!" Usagi pounced onto her seat and

greedily filled a plate.

I joined her, yet not as animal-like as she, and

filled my own plate hungrily.

"No way, if I eat that I'm never gonna fit

into my outfit for next week," Minako said, and Rei

nodded in agreement.

"I can't look bloated on TV," She poured a cup of

orange juice and nibbled a piece of dry toast, eyeing Usagi.

"Odango, if you don't slow down, Mamoru'll

never be able to fit you through the door," She scoffed.

"Shut up, Rei-chan," Usagi mumbled beneath a

piece of sausage.

I was too hungry to care at the moment whether

or not I could fit into a stupid pair of jeans. The image of

a porky Usagi squeezing through the entrance doors

filled my vision and I nearly choked on my orange juice.

"You OK, Ames?" Minako asked half-concerned/half-amused.

I laughed slightly, "Yeah, fine." I had to stifle

a giggle as Usagi packed another pound of food into her

mouth--or black hole as we liked to call it.

"Ami-chan, Zach is gonna shit frisbees when

he sees you in that outfit tonight." Usagi said.

That did it. The image of Zach popping frisbees

out of his rear-end sent me into an uncontrollable fit

of giggles.

"I'm f-f-fin--I'm, my stomach hurts," I

clutched my middle and wished I hadn't eaten all

that food.

After I regained my composure, the girls

were busy containing their own giggles.

"Wow, Ames, I've never seen you this

giggle-y before. What's up? You and Zach haven't...

have you?" Rei asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"NO! No, Rei-chan," I blushed profusely and

hid my face behind my glass of juice.

"Well then he MUST be a good kisser,"

Minako said bemusedly.

Rei only laughed, "Yeah, well if Jason tries to

kiss me one more time I just might have to-"

"Kiss him RIGHT back."

Rei jumped at least five feet in the air and screamed.

"HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET IN HERE?!" She was

beet red and breathing hard.

Jason laughed loudly and pointed to Yuuchirou

behind him.

"My buddy, Yuuchirou, here let me in," He

beamed at her.

"Yuuchirou, what did I tell you about letting

stray DOGS in here?" Rei was glowering over them.

Yuuchirou cowered back slightly.

"Sorry, Rei-chan, I'll just be um...going now,

see ya!" He zoomed off before she could do anything more.

"Ouch, Rei, that hurt me," Jason tapped his

hand over his heart.

"But, anyway, I came by to pick up my CD player. I

think I left it in your car yesterday," He stood expectantly,

flashing his thousand dollar grin.

Rei eyed him speculatively for a moment and sighed,

"Oh, come on."

She brushed past him, glaring as if he was the last person

in the world she wanted to be alone with at the moment. We, of course,

knew otherwise.

Usagi and Minako exchanged glances once the two had

disappeared through the front door before hurtling themselves out

of their seats and to the window.

"Move your elbow, Minako! I can't see!" Usagi pouted.

I swallowed my protest at their childish behavior, gathering

from experience that they wouldn't listen.

"Look! I think he's asking her if he can be her date

tonight!" Minako exclaimed, making room for Makoto.

"Aww! Look, she's blushing!"

"Damn, they're coming back! Hurry!" Minako scrambled

from her perch on the couch and plopped back into her chair,

twiddling her thumbs innocently.

Usagi and Makoto made a mad dash for the same chair,

falling on top of each other in a struggle for dominance.

Usagi ended up kissing tile, and Makoto triumphantly

laughed. Growling, Usagi picked herself up and hopped into

the chair opposite me.

I idly sipped my juice, guilty of nothing, and watched

Rei walk through the door, Jason (smiling smugly) in tow.

She ignored us, stomping to her bedroom and coming out

with a slip of paper. Quickly she scribbled down something and

shoved it into his hands.

"Here. Now LEAVE," She folded her arms across her chest

indignantly.

Jason eyed the slip of paper with a scrutinizing gaze

and handed it to Makoto.

"Is this legit?"

Makoto recognized the number as Rei's and laughed, nodding.

Rei scoffed and practically shoved him out of the door.

"Goodbye, sayonara, adios, GET OUT."

Jason raised his hands in silent cheer, "Oh yeah,

I knew you were into me," He looked at her and leaned

close to her face, "Does this mean I get that kiss?"

SMACK

Jason rubbed his shoulder, "Damn, you sure aren't a

morning person. You're lucky I like feisty chicks."

"UGH! GET OUT!" She shoved him roughly out the door.

As Jason stumbled down the stairs he called,

"I'll be here at six! See ya later!"

She huffed back into the room and plopped on

to her chair, red-faced.

"Why did I say yes to him?!" She put her

head on the table.

"Because you are into him," Usagi said

matter-of-factly.

Rei was silent for a minute.

"God, help me--I am," She put her arms

around her head.

"Aw, don't worry, hon, we understand,"

Minako patted her back.

"But you keep abusing him like that and he

just might stop trying and file a restraining order," Minako

nibbled her toast.

"I guess I should call Mamo-chan and tell him

to pick me up here as well," Usagi beamed and left to make

the call.

Rei called after her, "They're sending a limo to pick us

up at 6:15!"

"I gotta go tie up some stuff with my agent before the

holidays," Minako gathered her purse, "I'll be back around 3,

OK?"

The rest of us followed after her, all agreeing to meet

at 3.

"Bye!" Rei waved to us as we descended the temple

steps.

I had the strangest urge to hear Zach's voice, and I

walked as fast as I could without looking abnormal to get to

my apartment.

All the way I couldn't shake the feeling that something

big was going to happen that night--good or bad, I couldn't quite

decipher--but somehow I knew that if I talked to him, I'd feel

better.

"Hi, Mom." I swiftly walked past her in the kitchen,

grabbed the cordless phone, "Bye, Mom!", and scurried off to

my bedroom.

"Hello?" A groggy voice that clearly said "I stayed up last

night getting drunk off my ass and now I'm suffering the consequences."

answered.

Stifling my laugh, I asked for Zach and waited while the

hung-over person on the other line went to get him.

"Ami-chan?" Zach's voice startled me, and I couldn't

stop the smile that spread over my face. The cloud of worry in

my stomach was kicked to the side as the familiar swarm of

butterflies came to life in its place.

"Hey Zach..."

------------------------------------------------------------

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!

I have to know what you like/don't like! Be gentle though!

Adrial

TO GO, PLEASETO GO, PLEASETO GO, PLEASE


	10. 10 Party Crashers

To Go, Please Chapter 10: Party Crashers Author: Adrial Rating: PG13 To Go, Please  
  
Now, I really want to apologize for not recognizing those of you who've been so great by reviewing and e-mailing me. I kept forgetting b/c I was so anxious to get the chapters out for you guys! I have to keep sitting on my hands to keep them from hitting that little 'upload' button so I don't bombard you all with five chapters a day. I hope it's been worth the whole 24 hour wait! hehe...  
  
THANKS 2:  
  
Aqua Rasphody: Thanks so much for taking the time to read this new version of my story. I really appreciate it; you have NO idea how much. I'm so thrilled that you're enjoying it. And I have NO idea where I came up with that coffee boy message...I wrote it so long ago! I guess I just got inspired or something. ;) Thanks again for your reviews!  
  
Yui4: You are WAY too kind. I've finished the fic already, so don't worry about me leaving it half-way through! I'm so glad you like it. Thanx 4 the review!  
  
Lil' Mercurian Angel: I hope I'm updated soon enough...;) Thanx for the review!  
  
wishingstar_:_ Lol..clearly I should have begun using M.Word a LONG time ago. Word Pad just doesn't have the spell check thing going for it, huh? I am proud to say that I have just finished editing this chapter with M.Word and if there are any errors...well...at least I tried! (  
  
Ellen: haha...I personally cringe whenever I go back and read ch.4 b/c of the truth or dare part. I just think it's so corny, but I'm glad you got some kind of enjoyment out of it! I at least tried to make the dares interesting. I guess I tapped into my cruel side or something. I felt bad for Mamoru though....;-) And I LOVE writing Kyle (Kunz) for some reason. That whole shy/macho thing is so cute!  
  
Kay D. Chan: blush you people are too nice. I'm so happy you've enjoyed this so much! It's so close to me now that I've spent 2 years on it. Hope you enjoy the rest! And there will be MUCH more change as the story progresses. (This chapter is one of the brand new ones hint hint)  
  
A.O.Y.U.: You know, I always hear that there aren't many good Ami-fics; we need more! Ami is such an enjoyable character to write. You can do so much with her character. I'm glad you consider this read-worthy!  
  
Princess of Pirates: It loves you, too! hehehe...

Alrighty then! Now that that's said, I really hope you like this chapter! I promised you brand new ones, and I finally get to deliver! Now get reading! ;)  
  
--Adrial Ch. 10-------------------------------------------------- 

"Stop biting your nails Ami!" Minako scolded, slapping my hand away from my nibbling teeth.  
Glaring at the back of her head, I jammed them back into my mouth and continued to chew as if my life depended on it. It was a habit I had only recently started, ever since a certain green-eyed blonde entered my life.  
"Sit still, Mina-chan," Rei ordered, pulling Minako's face back towards her. Her other hand busily stirred a tub of steaming orange goop sitting on the table beside her.  
Minako rolled her eyes and reached over when Rei wasn't looking to turn up the radio.  
"I told you not to move!" Rei snapped, and Minako folded her arms across her chest.  
"And what's up your ass today, Hino?"  
Usagi decided to add her two-cents worth to the conversation, "She's just pissy because her agent wouldn't make them put up that life-sized cardboard cut-out of her on the red carpet for tonight."  
I rolled my eyes, plopping onto Rei's bed with my hand still in my mouth. I didn't know why I was nervous. It was Rei's big night, not mine after all. But, nonetheless, I was on the verge of being a wreck and even my Anatomy textbook couldn't squelch the raging case of apprehension gnawing at my stomach.  
"How long are you supposed to leave this stuff on, Rei-chan?" Minako looked warily at her face, gingerly touching the white strips hiding her eyebrows.  
Rei shrugged, fuming at Usagi's comment, and patted her brows haphazardly. "I guess they should be cooked by now."  
Minako bit her lip, and Rei opted to take off both at once.  
"Kill two birds with one stone?"  
Minako nodded, wincing.  
"Alright, Minako...one...two...THREE!"  
"GAAAAAAHHHH!!!"  
Rei brought her arms down, inspecting the slips of paper with a scrutinizing gaze.  
"There are barely any hairs on here!"  
Usagi had other worries as she dodged the flailing blonde that threatened to topple over her in her frantic dancing around the bedroom.  
"OWOWOWOWOWOWOW!" Minako screeched, fanning her eyebrows rapidly.  
Rei dumped the tub of goo into her garbage bin and glared at the bottle that followed, "Shoulda listened to Kayla. Nair is crap."  
Minako was nearly hyperventilating, and I grabbed her arms to calm her down.  
"Minako, deep breaths, OK?" I said soothingly, "In, out...in, out."  
A few tears squeezed themselves out of her eyes, and she sniffled.  
"In, out...i-in, o-ou-out," She repeated.  
Usagi stifled a giggle. At that moment Makoto came bounding through the door, out of breath and hair sopping wet.  
"Sorry I'm late! I had to-Minako! What happened to your face?"  
Minako stared at her for a brief second before lunging herself across the room at Rei.  
Rei screamed, flinging herself into safety behind her bathroom door.  
"You're crazy, Minako!" She yelled.  
"Great! After I murder you I can plead insanity and get off scott free!" Minako banged her fists on the door, cerulean eyes ablaze.  
Makoto watched the exchange with confused eyes before shrugging it off and hopping onto Rei's desk chair.  
"Need I even ask?" She said while beginning to comb out the damp curls around her face and neck.  
Usagi rolled her eyes back to her magna, and I sighed, reaching into my book bag for my notes on philosophers of the 15th century.  
  
Truth be told, Socrates and Aristotle couldn't have even saved me when I found myself hours later smack in the middle of a thousand, sweating bodies all bumping up together like something off the Discovery channel.  
Zach, my one chance for survival, had left my side for all of five seconds before the DJ selected him and another unsuspecting guy to participate in a shoot-off. Basketballs, that is. The entire where house was packed with people--young, old, tall, short...married. (AN: Scandalous!)  
The multi-colored strobe light lit the room in every color of the rainbow, and the floor vibrated from the bass blowing through the biggest speakers I'd ever had the good and great fortune to see.  
If Rei wasn't backstage preparing her vocal chords for her performance, I wouldn't have even been able to tell it was supposed to be a singing competition. A mini arcade was set up in one corner, adjoined with a series of basketball hoops, where my boyfriend was securing his right as Juuban U's starting point guard and two time MVP.  
Granted, he'd also secured his right as an of-age male and taken full advantage of the open bar, so a few of his free-throws missed the hoop by light-years, but that was only what I'd heard from a slurring Matt as he nearly toppled me over while dancing circles around Makoto, who giggled manically at his (HORRIBLE) impression of Michael Jackson.  
Although I pride myself in not partaking in childish, immature acts, I really wished I'd had a video camera, or a polaroid, or ANYTHING to capture the hilarious scene for future reference (i.e.: blackmail).  
I shoved my way through the crowd, double tasking as I searched for two familiar blonde faces and the ladies room at the same time.  
I'd lost Usagi and Minako not ten minutes after we'd arrived to a herd of growling men tightly clad in leather pants and muscle T's. Mamoru and Kyle didn't seem to like that all too much. But I digress...  
I thought I heard my name being screeched over the powerful bass, but when I turned around in search of the alleged source, I ran head-long into a giant palm tree prop that was strategically planted in front of a peculiarly realistic Hawaiian backdrop. Thankfully, I managed to grab hold of a waitress carrying a tray of margaritas to steady myself, thus knocking her over.  
"I'm so sorry, let me help you ..." I scrambled to help the baffled woman up only to receive a glare that could have burned a hole in my forehead and the imprint of her steel tipped cowboy boot on my toes.  
"Ow, ow, ow, ow..." I squeaked, shaking out the stabbing pain there and nearly on the verge of tears. This was SO not fun.  
"Ami!" A surprised voice shouted very close to my ear, and I turned around to find Zach's grinning face inches from mine. The hair on his forehead was matted and sweaty, and his eyes were glassy from the heat and whatever alcohol he'd consumed already. He gave me a lopsided grin and held out a glass of amber liquid. I wanted to pounce on him and never let go. I actually felt tears of joy spring into my eyes.  
"I WON!" He exclaimed, loud enough to register over the roaring voice of Luda-something or other and held up a wad of cash.  
A loss for words, I merely laughed. Thankful to squelch the dryness in my throat, I forgot the pounding in my foot and took the proffered glass from his hand, draining it in seconds before spitting out whatever it was that was burning a trail of fire down my throat.  
I coughed raggedly, shoving the glass back at him.  
"Wha-what WAS that?!" I gasped, trying to ease the burning in my throat.  
He looked slightly confused and rubbed my back in circles.  
"A shot...you've never had one before?" He furrowed blond brows at my reddened face.  
A shot of what? Liquid fire? This night was going down hill and fast, and I had to get my footing before I collapsed along with it.  
"No." I simply stated and brushed past him to a cluster of bamboo stools. I sat down heavily, sweating and slightly dizzy from the swirling lights flashing over the room and rubbed the perspiration from my forehead.  
Zach approached me with a look of apology clearly written on his face.  
"I'm so sorry, Ami. I thought you'd...I mean, I assumed that you drank," He trailed off, trying desperately to make amends.  
I stared at him blankly before shrugging it off. He really didn't know.  
"It's alright, Zach. You didn't know," I raised my voice so he could hear clearly, "I'm not much of a drinker. Actually...I've never even tasted it before." I suddenly felt insecure about my abstinence from alcohol. Why do something that would make me completely unaware of my surroundings, act like an idiot, and wake up to the inside of a toilet bowl the next morning gagging my insides out with no clue of what I'd done that caused the horrendous migraine pounding away at my temples?  
Not to mention that my mother would hunt me down and KILL me if she ever found out I was drinking, especially when I was underage.  
But he didn't gape at my statement; he only smiled widely and sat down beside me.  
"Shoulda guessed though. You're way too grounded to ever lose control like some of these idiots," he gestured to the madly grinning dancers raising sloshing glasses of a similar amber liquid in toasts.  
I raised my eyebrows. They seemed to be having a hell of a lot more fun that I was.  
But me...grounded? More like too scared stiff to try anything that's outcome I couldn't calculate with numbers and equations.  
"But then again. That's what I like about you, Ami," He downed one of the drinks I had previously regurgitated and smiled, "You're so smart and beautiful."  
The blush that tinged my cheeks was thankfully hidden in the dim lighting, and I fiddled with my fingers awkwardly.  
Before I could respond, he was taking my arms and dragging me into the swirl of grinding people.  
"Let me make it up to you," He said into my ear, leaving the scent of mingled sweat and alcohol tickling my nostrils.  
I could hardly string together a coherent thought or statement or even decipher what the slurred words leaving his mouth meant as he grabbed me close to his body and brought my arms around his neck.  
_ Oh, God! He wants to DANCE?! Alright...just do what he does. No, wait...how do I make my hips do that thing? Oh, lord...I'm going to kill myself, I know it.  
_ "Just relax!" He yelled over the music. I smiled weakly and tried to do as I was told.  
_ Relax, Ames. Just relax.  
_ Relax I did as he moved slowly against my body, flowing with the beat of the music around us. The bass picked up and soon I was grinding against him as if we were molded together in a puzzle.  
Somehow I ended up with my back facing him, and he held my waist tightly. I was doing pretty well actually, considering the fact that I'd never danced with anyone before outside of the ballroom dancing lessons I took for about a week when I was twelve. I let the music control my body, and I had no intention of making it stop.  
But inevitably it did, and we were left sweaty and breathing heavily against each other twenty minutes later. The designated VJ for the moment stepped on to the stage, pumping up the crowd with raised arms and loud shouts.  
I barely heard a word of the intro for the performers, nor did I pay a bit of attention when the first walked up to perform.  
I was a little detained at the moment. Well, that is to say my lips were a little detained at the moment.  
"Hey douche bag!"  
I winced as Zach's face was smashed against mine from the impact of Jason's fist on his back.  
Before Zach could launch his own attack on his interruptive friend, our attention was brought to the spotlighted beauty on stage.  
"It's Rei!" I exclaimed, shoving my way towards the front to get a better view before she began.  
Jason nodded, following closely behind me just as the first notes of her song filtered through the humid dance floor.  
She parted rose colored lips, anxiety and excitement trickling into her smile and releasing themselves in a haunting melody that pricked the fine baby hairs on my neck. The entire air of the room shifted from tense and fast-paced to a lethargic, hypnotic feel.  
I could feel the heat of bodies surrounding me, nearly suffocating, yet somehow comforting. Zach's arm laced itself around my waist, and I stared into his eyes with an entranced gaze.  
Zach's lips found mine at almost exactly the same moment the music was halted abruptly by a screech that pierced through Rei's alluring voice.  
"Look! Look!" Cried all around me. I darted my eyes in all directions, finally seeing the scarlet haze of energy floating towards the stage. Cheers and hoots filled the room in a deafening rumble. People began rattling the stage, jumping in excitement at the incredible spectacle that must have been planned.  
But it wasn't. I knew that, and Rei did as well as she leapt from the stage and barged her way through boisterous bodies to reach me.  
"Where are the others?" Her no-nonsense tone brought me to her complete attention.  
"I'm not sure," I replied. Zach and Jason laughed dumbly at the show being put on around them, and I looked at them wearily.  
Rei pursed her lips, "We need a plan."  
The dense cloud of scarlet settled onto the stage floor, dissipating slowly and crackling with bolts of electricity. Gusts of winds blew the sweaty hair from my neck and bursts of fire erupted from the mass of energy.  
By then a mob of people had started to move toward the stage, toppling over one another with no other instinct than to act as barbaric as humanly possible.  
Chairs flew into the air, tables collapsed underneath drunken spectators trying to get a better view of the stage. I bit my lip.  
"Damn. This is way better than that lame ass Japanese Idol show...Yeah!" Jason exclaimed before Rei grabbed his arm and nodded at me.  
"Let's get outta here."  
And we would have followed through with this order, except for the mob had grown so thickly congested that we were only pushed closer to the stage. I gasped for air.  
Crushing. That was what it felt like. Faces I couldn't see shoved into my own, smashing me into other unidentifiable bodies. Rei's whereabouts were lost to me, and Zach's hand was no longer held tightly in my own.  
I was nearly on the verge of panicking. Someone shoved me to the ground, causing only more chaos as bodies tripped over my own and crashed soundlessly into piles of limbs and drunken curses.  
"NOW IT'S TIME FOR THE REAL PARTY TO BEGIN!" I barely heard the declaration beneath the pack of people using my head as a support to get up from the ground. And then a dead silence fell over us all as if they'd finally caught on that this was not smoke and mirrors. Another blood curdling screech erupted, shattering the still air and bringing with it a chain of energy that rippled through it, tearing through tables as if they were made of sand and creating a domino affect throughout the mob.  
All hell broke loose after that. I was finally able to get my bearings and rose shakily to my feet. With quaking fingers, I smeared a layer of sweat from my forehead. And when it stuck to my fingers like watery glue, I stared quizzically at my darkened palm.  
Another splatter of moisture spread across my cheek. My mind raced with urgency, the beat of the continuous music pounding into my eardrums and making it nearly impossible to establish any type of connection with the other senshi.  
"TAKE THIS!"  
Fortunately for me, I didn't take whatever was aimed directly at my head. Unfortunately for the pack of screaming girls behind me, they did. The ivory of my shirt was stained crimson with their blood.  
I hadn't even been able to see the attacker yet. I felt alone in the brutal massacre occurring around my widened eyes.  
-_Ami! Are you alright?_  
Startled at Minako's voice, I tried desperately to clear my mind of the devastated howls shaking through the air and respond.  
-_I'm fine. Where are you guys?_ I kneaded my forehead.  
-_Behind the bar. Get here as soon as you can. These people are dropping like flies!  
_ I wasted no time in responding and hurtled myself across the dance floor, leaping across the dead and injured with eyes blinded by the task at hand. The bar loomed in the distance, I could see the top of Mamoru's head peeking out from the side and sped up.  
In a split second I was on the ground again, taking the full force of a ball of energy that rippled through my veins in painful stabs. Silently gasping for air that wouldn't come, I reached out for a little assistance from someone who wasn't being engulfed in fire or tangled in webs of scarlet electricity.  
"Come on, Ames!" A small, white hand tugged me quickly from the ground, and I followed Minako to safety behind the bar countertop. There, Jason, Matt, Zach, Kyle, the girls and Mamoru were all tightly packed against each other and bubbling with a mixture of fear and anxiety.  
"Would someone care to tell me what the fuck is going on here?!" Jason demanded, rising to his full height before being shoved back down by a furious Rei.  
"Hey idiot, do you wanna get us all killed?!" She smacked his shoulder harshly and ignored his howl of disapproval.  
Matt dumbly shook his head, "I am _way_ too drunk for this."  
Usagi kneeled forward to peer over the counter's edge. Her wide blue eyes blinked a few times as she sized up the enemy. I noticed that half of her golden hair was stained red. When she turned back to us, her face was ashen, "It's not exactly a youma we're dealing with here minna."  
Minako and Makoto exchanged glances. Before more was said, the counter top hiding our huddle exploded into wooden fragments around us. Instinctively, I shielded Zach and Jason with my body as best I could and gritted my teeth as glasses crashed against my back in razor sharp slices.  
When the dust had settled, we all flung ourselves up, bringing the guys as well.  
Minako brushed a pile of dust from her clothing, "We've gotta get the guys outta here, minna. We can't risk them getting hurt."  
Usagi nodded, "Mamoru, you take these four and then start looking for survivors."  
He cast a worried glance into her eyes, and she smiled reassuringly.  
"I'll be careful, don't worry," She gave him a winning smile, and ushered him away, four confused men in tow.  
I was grateful for their inebriated states for they asked no questions about our welfare and followed on wobbly limbs behind Mamoru. Kyle, however, looked back with disbelieving eyes at the five of us, platinum brows furrowed. Minako bit her lip hard, I watched, and forced a smile for him. I furrowed my brow. I know I'd seen that smile before, more times than I could count, yet I was completely dumbfounded as to where or when.  
We gathered together in a circle in the middle of the mass of bodies that were filling the air with smells of new death.  
"My God..." Usagi uttered, looking around our feet at the horrific scene. It was a massacre--unlike any youma attack we'd ever been faced with before. Bodies littered the floor like pieces of discarded rubbish, layered atop each other in mini towers. My stomach jerked.  
A cackle from behind our heads rose the hairs on our necks.  
"I'm afraid no God of yours will be able to save you now, senshi."  
The words left sneering lips of scarlet placed on a rigid face of pale skin and accented by glaring, crimson eyes. The woman's mane of inky black cascaded in waves down her back, parting like rivers at her shoulders. The corseted ruby gown she donned wrapped tightly around her torso and ended above knee-high leather boots with a heel that looked like it could have poked a hole through steel.  
Makoto ground her knuckles into fists, breathing roughly behind me. I turned eyes to Minako's hands that were currently tinged by a golden glow and Rei's violet eyes burning with the fire she itched to release.  
_Did she call us...senshi?_  
Usagi seemed to have stumbled upon that train of thought as well and seemed baffled at the woman hovering above our heads.  
A disoriented man, half conscious and muttering incoherently beneath his breath stumbled to the floor in between us and the nameless vixen who smiled (if you could call it that) devilishly. She eyed him with a bored glance and stepped on his neck, cracking the bones like twigs and grounding her heel into it with a smirk.  
Usagi croaked in shock and disbelief and stared at the scene with wide eyes. "Just who the hell do you think you are?!" She screeched, her voice emblazoned with a passion only brought forth with the suffering of others.  
The grinding motions of her boot stilled, and the lifeless form beneath it shuttered with tremors of a life lost.  
"I am your past, present, and future, senshi." She seemed amused at her elusive response.  
Rei's patience snapped, "Well I'm your worst fucking nightmare, witch!"  
"MARS CRYSTAL POWER!"  
"Rei, no!" Minako screamed, but too late to stop the swirl of fire from encasing her best friend and leaving an extremely heated Sailor Mars in her place.  
"Mars flame sniper!" Blazing arrows of Mars left her palms and soared towards their target only to dissolve to cinders upon impact of a protective shield.  
The unharmed woman chuckled bemusedly at the attack and brushed invisible cinders from her arms and shoulders.  
"Pitiful, Mars, really," She sneered.  
Makoto growled low and long, "No point in letting Mars have all the fun, right minna?" She gave no chance for response and was engulfed in a blanket of electricity before we knew it.  
Minako glared at the two transformed senshi but relented and nodded to Usagi and me. Three flashes of pink, yellow, and blue temporarily filled the room. Once in senshi form, the slices of ice burning and tearing the skin on my back disappeared, and a familiar, powerful energy coursed through my veins.  
The five of us faced our newest enemy with eyes layered with steel and ice. She seemed annoyingly unfazed, however, and shifted on her feet with a bored gaze.  
"What? No pulling a rabbit out of your hats? Your pathetic little magic tricks are of no affect to me."  
Venus held her golden chain tightly in her grasp.  
"Tell us who you are," She demanded coolly.  
"Well, since you've asked so nicely, I am Myora," She obliged with a devilish sneer. I felt my stomach flip-flop at her name for no apparent reason and shrugged it off as nerves.  
Lightening crackled behind me, and Jupiter stomped to the front of our line.  
"Now that we've been acquainted, tell us what you want so we can fry your sorry, Medusa-wannabe ass."  
At that, Myora narrowed her eyes in a deathly glare towards Jupiter and snarled. She didn't even bother to retort; her hands shot up violently and a massive ball of blood red erupted from her palms. Before I could collect my thoughts or rationalize a plan of action, Jupiter's body slammed across the length of the floor, taking down any surviving tables with the force of the blow and staining the floor with her blood.  
"_MAKOTO!"_ Sailor Moon screamed desperately, fleeing to the fallen senshi with tears already forming behind eyes that had darkened to the color of a midnight sky.  
Forgetting Myora for a second, we all joined her beside Makoto's still body. I forced the remorse and pain down my throat like acid. My visor flashed over my eyes and began beeping away, calculating her injuries and medical stats. I barely saw them through my tears.  
In a passionate rage, Sailor Mars bounded towards Myora.  
"You'll pay for that, bitch!" She roared, releasing useless fireballs and scorching mandalas that bounced harmlessly off her shield.  
Myora smiled, obviously proud of herself.  
"Enough games, senshi! All I came here for," She lifted a long, snarled finger in my direction, "Is _her_."

--------------------------------

hope you liked! Now hit that little button in the corner...yeah, that's the one...it says REVIEW. lol...please...?

oh...one more thing before I forget--**_REVIEW!!!_**


	11. 11 Through a Crack in my Wall

TO GO, PLEASE

Chapter 11: Through a Crack in My Wall

Rating: PG

Author: Adrial

E-mail:

TO GO, PLEASE

AN: Now that we've got everything moving in place,

I hope the changes I've made make as big of a difference

as I plan for them. Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own it, I don't want it,

I just write about it.

PS: Sorry about the crappy formatting. is getting on my NERVES.

----------------------------------------------------------

The rythmic pulse of Makoto's heart rate

thumped dully in my ears and beneath my fingertips. I

wasn't sure how long I remained rooted to the same spot, but

the next thing I knew, Minako was unclenching the vise-like

grip I had unconsciously planted on Makoto's purpling wrist

and calling my name.

I jerked to attention and stared into her authoratative

gaze for a fraction of a second before whipping around and

facing the reason for the brewing migraine forming at my

temples.

"That's right, Mercury. No need to seem so shocked,"

Myora snapped her fingers and a pair of vicious looking youma,

fangs and mouths dripping with anticipation of a good battle,

appeared at either of her sides.

"Keep the others busy while I have a chat with this

one, boys, if you don't mind."

I had a feeling she didn't give two shits if they

minded or not. But they rose to the occassion with hunger

flashing across their lemon-yellow eyes and malice leaking

from their very pores.

Makoto's rapidly lowering heart rate was still humming

across my visor, and I risked turning around to scope out Mamoru's

location and found him kneeling beside Venus and Moon, transformed

and having nestled his cape beneath Makoto's wounded head.

Venus caught my gaze and nodded to him, and he lifted

Makoto gingerly from the ground and leapt to the exit, vanishing

in the raging blizzard outside.

It seemed I'd risked one second too much, and I barely

had a chance to raise a defensive arm to block the waves of

electricity that wrapped themselves tightly around my neck

and tore me from the ground and to my knees at Myora's feet.

She yanked the chain forcefully, and I faced her

with a mask of utter contempt.

The sounds of Sailor Mars and Venus's attacks exploded

around me, but I could hardly turn to watch, much less help.

I cringed at the sound of bone cracking to my left, and felt

a leap of fear at Sailor Moon's cry of pain.

Now I was pissed. And Myora refused to wipe the

ever-present smirk off her disgusting face. I'd only known her

for ten minutes and I already wanted to kick her ass ten ways from

Sunday. It was amazing how much Makoto and Rei had rubbed off on me

in the past 5 years.

"Well, Mercury, we meet again," She glowered over me.

I was beyond perplexed, but I didn't show it. Instead, I gave

her a glare of my own and winced at the increase of dark energy she

surged through my body.

"Wha-what do you want?" I croaked, annoyed that the chains

gripping my neck made me sound like Mickey Mouse when I was going

for something more along the lines of intimidating and fierce.

She sniffed. "You know damn well what I want!"

"Why don't you re--mind me?" It was getting difficult to

breathe now. Venus's chain sliced the air over Myora's head, missing

her neck by at least a foot. She cursed from somewhere behind me and

hastily threw out a Love and Beauty Shock at something I couldn't see.

Myora growled at having been nearly decapitated and glared;

this only seemed to triple my agony as I tried to remain conscious.

"CRYSTAL MOON THER-GAAH!" I watched in a rage as Usagi's

form slid across the floor and a youma advanced on her.

Another golden chain sizzled through the air, this time

successfully knocking Myora off her balance. I grabbed the oppotunity

without time for thought and threw my energy into a shine aqua illusion

aimed at her chest.

I didn't wait to see what damage had actually been done, before

flinging myself away and scrambling to my feet.

"MERCURY BUBBLES!"

Flashes of red and gold soared through my fog, and I

waited for my eyes to adjust to the new atmosphere. It was always

harder when my mind was so cluttered. Finally, I could make out

Venus and Mars, both situated around an unconscious Sailor Moon in a

protective barrier and gritting their teeth in effort to ward off

the two blood-thirsty youma.

I precisely aimed and fired, successfully stunning the two

youma by freezing their legs to the ground. They wouldn't stay there

forever, I knew, and took the precious seconds to leap over to the

senshi's sides, ignoring the dark energy that still buzzed painfully

through my veins.

Mars' face was sweaty and soiled with dirt and ash from her

flame attacks. A gash poured blood in a steady stream down her left

arm and she was favoring her left leg.

Venus was none the worse for wear. She was sporting a large

purple bruise the size of a volleyball on her left thigh and scrapes

and cuts littered her face, neck, and arms. She lifted an arm to wipe

a film of sweat from her forehead and glanced at me to probably

calculate my own state of phyiscal well-being.

"Looks like we'll have to do a combined attack, minna." She

grunted, and I noticed her twisted foot, absent of her usual orange

heel.

"Are you sure you're up for it, guys? We could just make a

run for it. With your injuries, we'd be lucky to knock them off their

feet," I bit my lip; the youma were cracking out of their ice-shells and

looking none too happy about it.

Venus rolled her shoulders, "You can't carry Usagi on your own.

There's no other choice."

Mars nodded, staring determindedly at the youma before us and

I knew she was trying to clear her mind, a task only years of priestess

up-bringing could have taught her.

"Let's get it on then, minna," She growled.

"VENUS CRYSTAL POWER!"

"MARS CRYSTAL POWER!"

Knowing just how drained their energy source was, I forced myself

to pour every bit of power I could into the attack.

"MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER!"

"PLANET POWER ATTACK!!!"

The resulting attack was significantly smaller than it would

have been if we'd had two extra senshi to tag along for the ride, but

it was thankfully enough. Two piles of ashes spread across the floor

at our feet where the youma had once been.

Mars swayed on her feet, and I had to thrust out my arms to

keep her from crashing to the floor. Venus wobbled as well but managed

to remain standing long enough for us to search the premesis for any

signs of Myora.

As if she knew we were looking for her, Myora's voice pierced

through the eerie silence like a thousand knives.

"This is not over yet, Senshi! I will not rest until I have

avenged my father's death!!"

Just as quickly as it had entered, her voice left us drowning

in silence once again. Our eyes darted all around the room, straining

to find any indication that she was still sliming around.

But she was gone, and we sighed with utter relief. I

knew without a doubt that she wouldn't stay away forever, and

in light of that, I settled Mars onto the floor beside Usagi and

sprinted to the exit, telling Venus to wait with them while I

got help.

Outside, there was no sign of Tuxedo Kamen or Makoto, and I

felt a lurch of fear rise in my throat. Headlights glared in my face

out of nowhere, and I shielded my eyes. When they shifted, I blinked

and saw Mamoru's car coasting towards me.

Indescribably relieved, I raced for it, throwing open the

passenger side door and sticking my head in.

"Usagi and Rei are down. We need your help."

Mamoru was half-way out of the car when I saw Makoto's

body sprawled out in the backseat, still as the night around us,

and I nearly had a heart attack before the barely traceable rise

and fall of her chest let me know she was, in fact, still

breathing and alive.

A hand on my arm shook me back into reality, and I looked

up to see Mamoru.

"Come on, Ami." He urged gently. I didn't need telling twice.

We fled side-by-side back to our friends and had them outside in no

time. Mamoru carried Usagi in his arms, and I supported both Mina and

Rei on either side of my body. Rei had thankfully gained enough

conciousness to be able to stand without crumbling.

There was no way I would have been able to heal all of their

wounds in my state, and I gulped. Hard.

Mamoru had slid to the side of her car with Usagi's head

nestled in his lap, muttering soft pleas for her to wake up. Venus

watched them while helping me support Mars's weight.

With a single thought, my visor flew across my eyes and

I checked the extent of all of their injuries.

Usagi, thank the powers that be, was only knocked out. She

had suffered a nastily fractured leg, but that would be healed in

a matter of days.

Venus and Mars would be fine after a long nights sleep;

their twisted ankles were healing even as I read their stats on

my visor's screen.

But Makoto was another story. I threw open the car door, urgency

prickling the back of my head. Situating myself on the floor of the

car, I lifted her head gingerly from the black cape. It was damp

with her blood.

Despite my own weakened state, I was fairly sure that I'd

be able to heal most of the brain hemmoraging she was suffering from

and the crack in her skull. My stomach lurched sickeningly at the

thought that without her advanced healing rates, she should have been

already dead.

But I shoved those thoughts away and concentrated on the

grip I had on her neck.

Just as my hands began to pour power into her body, someone

was yanking me back harshly. I turned wide eyes to Sailor Venus.

"Venus--What are you doing?" I demanded.

She glared at me, "No, Mercury!" Grabbing my hands, she

tried to force me away from Makoto's body, "You're still weak from

the planet attack, if you heal her you could--"

I thrust her grasp away, "And if I don't heal her,

SHE will die."

The gaze she locked on me would have sent anyone else

crying for their mommy. It was steel-hard and unweilding, but

lucky for me, I knew her well enough to know that she knew damn

well that I was right.

I thought of the seconds we were wasting when Makoto was

slowly but surely dying right beneath us, when finally, Minako unlocked

her gaze and slid back out of the car.

I sighed heavily and returned my attention to Makoto's

purpling body.

Mercury Remefy!

I barely heard the cry of another's voice, calling my

name in disbelief, before I was pulled beneath a current of

pulsing energy. It lapped like foaming waves through my body,

taking what energy was needed and transmitting it into the

limp form beneath my hands. Makoto's body glowed brightly

with the light of my powers.

I felt the tap on my energy drastically plummeting but

urged it to keep going. Makoto's face remained in my vision,

driving me forward. My lungs contracted, desperately trying

to find the energy to breathe as it rapidly disintegrated.

"Mercury, stop!" A blurred voice yelled in my ear.

I couldn't hear anything any more. I felt serenely calm for a moment...drifting in some place inside of myself.

My final memories were of the cold, frozen earth

colliding with my body, and two shining pools of the emerald

ocean in front of my eyes before they fluttered shut.

-----------------------------

"Do you think we should try to wake her?"

"No...she needs to sleep."

"And the others?"

"We're not telling them anything until she wakes

up."

"Wait...Look!"

I groaned. Why was everything spinning? My head

felt like someone had shoved a pair of symbols through my

ears and was currently trying to rip a hole through my skull

with the force of their repeated blows.

Sleep. I wanted to sleep. Forever, maybe. God, when

would the voices STOP?

Furrowing my brows, I resisted opening my eyes at all.

"Lts. Tnlitsff."

Someone was bending over me.

"What, Ami-chan?"

"I sd. Tnlightsff..."

There was a snicker, and I groaned again. Someone

cleared their throat softly.

"OK. I think she's saying 'Tim likes snuff.'"

More snickering.

"Nah. More like 'Tom bites stuff.'"

"USAGI."

"Geez. I was only trying to help."

A loud rustling noise exploded in my ears and suddenly,

I felt as if my ears were going to finally detonate. Thrusting

out blindly, I wrapped my fingers around the torturous object

and hurled it as far as my weak limbs could.

Satisfied at the sound of it impacting wall, I dropped

my arm and sighed.

"My, my, my. Aren't we the crabby one in the morning?"

If my eyes were open, I would have surely rolled them as

far back in my head as humanly possible, but that was completely

impossible seeing as how absolutely NO one had turned the damn lights

off yet. I tried one more time.

"Now. Turn-the-lights-off." The effort put into each

syllable pounded against my temples, but they finally got the

hint and someone scrambled from their place beside me and in

a few seconds, all was dim. Ah, blessed darkness.

Cracking an eyelid open, I made out four sillohuettes.

My eyes took a little while to become adjusted to seeing again,

but soon I could make out the outline of noses and ears and two

odangos bouncing in the dark.

"Minna? Where am I?"

A tiny hand slipped into my own and squeezed. I squeezed

back and smiled slightly.

"Rei's place. How are you feeling, Ami-chan?" Usagi

supplied in a soothing, mother hen type voice.

"I'm fine." 'LIAR!' Grunting, I pushed myself to my elbows,

"What time is it?"

A brief pause followed, and Minako announced that

I had slept for nearly sixteen hours and it was going on

two thirty.

"WHAT?!" I lurched my self up into a sitting position, "I

have a Biology quiz this afternoon!"

Usagi groaned, "There's no way you're taking any quizzes

today, Ami-chan." At the signs of protest from me, she added, "And

that is a direct order of the Princess."

I'd been defeated. "Fine." With that, I let my head drop

back down to the blissfully soft pillow and closed my eyes. "Now

all I need is another short, 16 hour nap."

"Umm, that might not be possible, Ames. I don't think the

boys are going to wait much longer before busting down Rei's front

door."

"Boys? What boys?" And abruptly, every horrid detail of the

previous night and battle rushed into my mind. I begged for it all

to be a nightmare, but I was never that lucky.

"We'll explain once you get up. Brace yourself!"

A million shots of pain stabbed at my eyes. I had opened

them at the exact moment Rei flipped on her bedside lamp. Swallowing

the number of colorful phrases I could have uttered at that moment,

I squinted hard and waited for the agonizing time my eyes needed to

adjust to pass by.

Obviously after expending such a vast amount of energy

in healing Makoto's wounds, I had fainted. I could piece together

that much on my own. However, the reason Zach and his crew wanted

to do physical damage to Rei's temple was completely beyond me.

I needed answers, but that would require thinking, and

at the moment that was the last thing I wanted to do. (AN: everyone

gasps!) It hurt way too much.

"Shower. Need shower. Toothbrush." I moaned, feeling

supremely stupid at how I'd seemed to have taken a liking to

speak in caveman tongue. But I felt as if I'd spent all last

night rolling in a pig pen and wrestling an alligator afterwards

so I figured it was at least marginally justified. Neither of

which were true, of course, but that was what it felt like anyways.

My friends scooted off the bed and dutifully helped me

into Rei's bathroom, and, making sure I wouldn't fall before they

left, handed me a towel and left the door cracked--just in case.

I spent a good thirty minutes underneath the scorching

stream of water masaging my scalp with Herbal Essence shampoo and

had to force myself to turn it off, lest I fall asleep right then

and there.

After brushing my teeth and wrapping myself in a yellow

towel, I left the bathroom to find a pair of faded jeans and a

Juuban U sweatshirt folded neatly on Rei's bed for my own desposal.

Feeling extrememly warm and comfortable after dressing, I

left Rei's room ready to tackle whatever needed to be accomplished

in the wake of last night's fiasco.

In the living room, Usagi was sprawled out on the couch,

reclining her right leg, which had been bound in a cast. Minako

sat on the opposite end, the pillow Usagi's leg was levitated

onto her lap, and a few butterfly bandages peppered her face and

collarbone. They wouldn't be needed in a few more hours, I mused.

Rei and Makoto were both laying flat on their backs on

the floor, staring at the ceiling silently and sharing a bag of

pretzels.

I announced my presence by plopping into the squishy arm

chair in the middle of the room. Rei and Makoto darted up from the

floor. When I saw Makoto staring at me bewilderded and shocked, I

unfolded my legs from beneath me and gave her a scrutinizing gaze.

And then I remembered staring at the same face before, watching it

drain in color and spill pools of blood onto my lap.

Before I could act, Makoto had launched herself onto my chair

and wrapped her arms around me in a bone-crushing grip. I gasped,

having nearly had the wind knocked out of me, but was happy to

return her hug.

"Mako-chan. I'm so glad you're alright." In a moment of

emotional vulnerability on both our parts, our eyes filled with

tears that we wiped away hastily.

Makoto smiled widely but instantly sobered, glaring at

me resentfully.

"Thanks to you, Ami, I'm alright. And thanks to you,

you nearly died out there, too."

I had the sense to look ashamed. I knew what I'd done

last night was irresponsible. I should have healed her enough

to assuage the necessary injuries and let her healing process handle

the rest. But when I looked back on it, I had been so scared that

I might lose one of my best friends when I'd had the capability

to prevent it that I felt obligated do to what I did.

Minako gingerly lifted Usagi's leg onto the couch and

joined our huddle.

"She's right, Ami-chan. And if you hadn't fainted

afterwards I would have crescent beamed you halfway around the

world myself." Her tone was harsh, and I knew she meant it.

"Look. I know what I did wasn't the most intelligent

thing to do, but I wasn't thinking with my head last night."

"Lay off her, minna-chan. Can you honestly say you

wouldn't have done the same thing if you were in her shoes?"

Usagi quipped. Minako and Makoto exchanged glances and sighed.

"I think it's safe to say that none of us were thinking

with our heads last night," Minako stated resentfully, reserving

her harshest gazes for Rei and Makoto, "Hot-headedness isn't going

to keep us alive. In the end, what we need is to work together

and WAIT-for-instructions."

It was times like these when I wasn't sure how Aino

Minako fit so many different personalities all inside her

tiny little body without self-combusting. A flicker of the

Moon Kingdom flashed before my eyes, but I didn't bother to

grasp at it. Fleeting memories like those were always quick

to appear and even quicker to disappear.

Makoto and Rei looked at each other solemnly,

understanding, and nodded compliantly to our leader. I was sure

I wasn't the only one who noticed the inner battle Rei had to wage

with herself before doing so, but that was her nature.

And as quick as Minako's eyes glazed over with steel and

authority, they sparked back to their usual vibrant, periwinkle

ovals and all was normal again.

Usagi moaned from the couch, "Now that we've finished busting

on each other for what we did or didn't do right yesterday," She tried

to rise and failed, screwing up her face in a grimace, "Will somebody

pass me the damn pretzels?"

Rei scoffed, Makoto rolled her eyes, Minako grinned, and I

obligingly handed her the bag.

"I thought you hated pretzels, Usa?" I inquired, taking a

few for myself.

She wrinkled her nose at me, "Well I WOULD have eaten the

Doritos, but I seem to remember a certain blue-haired young lady

hurling them at the wall?" She cast a knowing look at me and I

blushed.

"Oops...?"

I was promptly rewarded with an air-bourne pretzel

square in my face.

As much as I just wanted to curl up into a ball and

forget everything that had happened last night, I knew that

such a luxury was impossible at the moment. Minako wasted

no time in calling in the gaurdians and beginning a long,

long meeting that went on for about an hour before anyone

mentioned that Myora seemed to be keen on killing me. Or

torturing me. Or something. Whatever it was, it wasn't

good, and made me squirm in the chair I was sitting on

uncomfortably when Minako brought it into the forefront.

"I guess you were right, Luna. Myora must think that

Ami has the Hikari Gem," Minako said, absentmindedly scratching

Artemis behind his ears.

Luna nodded her head softly and padded over to me.

"Ami...? Did Myora mention anything specific last

night to you? Anything at all?" Her ruby eyes were large

with curiosity and the vault of knowlege she possessed.

I furrowed my brow and wondered why my hands were

shaking. I'd never been singled out like this before. Enemies

usually wanted the same thing: Usagi's ginzoushou.

"Yes, she said she wouldn't stop until she avenged

her father's death. Do you think Sarius is her father?"

Luna frowned. "I don't remember much of the Fall of

Mercury, but I am nearly positive that Sarius never had an

heir. My memories have failed me before, though," She flicked

her tail.

Rei piped up after a long silence, "But that doesn't

explain how she knew our identities. You perfected our disguise

powers years ago, Luna."

Before Luna could respond, Rei's front door banged open

revealing a very flustered Mamoru. He didn't waste any time and

securely locked the door before finally turning to face us.

"I think I lost them," He sighed dramatically and plopped

heavily onto the couch beside Usagi, eliciting a howl of pain

from her.

"Sorry, Usa," He said soothingly and allowed her to prop

her leg on his lap; his eyes then fell on me, "Ami-chan. Glad to

see you're finally awake."

I smiled sheepishly, "Who were you running from?"

He seemed confused, "They haven't told you yet?"

Minako glared darkly at him, and he took the hint to

shut up.

Curiosity got the better of me. "Told me what?"

"We'll tell you later, Ami-chan. Mamoru, what's that

behind your ear? Let me get that for you," Rei bent over

his head and smacked it with her palm.

"Ow! What was that for?!" He pouted. Rei mumbled

underneath her breath and sat back down.

After Usagi had finished barking at Rei for hurting

her boyfriend without her direct permission, things had

settled down enough for Mamoru to speak again. This time

he chose his words more carefully.

"Anyways, look at this," He removed a rolled up

newspaper from his coat pocket and unfurled it on the

coffee table. We all crowded around it and saw in huge,

black letters:

MTV TALENT SHOWCASE AMBUSHED: THE DEAD MISSING

Minako was the first to speak, "Missing? What

do they mean missing?

Darien urged us to read further. When we had all

finished, no one spoke.

My hands shook in my lap, and my eyes were large

with wonder.

"...rescuers arrived on the scene at 12:35 AM

last night to find the warehouse completely absent of any

signs of human life. The place itself lay in barely recognizable

ruins, the blood-drenched floor covered in rubble...

"My God..." Minako uttered finally.

Luna was pacing across the floor and muttering

underneath her breath rapidly.

"What would Myora want with a five hundred dead

bodies?" Usagi inquired; her eyes were filling with tears as

she spoke.

"Five hundred...what about the survivors?" Minako questioned,

skimming through the last paragraphs of the article.

"Only 32 survivors," She said with a tone of finality.

Makoto glared at the paper and didn't looked up for

a long time. My stomach flip-flopped in ways no internal organ

should have been capable of, and I felt nauseous.

"Damnit!" Minako bellowed, slamming her fist down

on the table and sending a few empty cans of soda toppling

towards the carpet. She rose, following Luna's example by

storming across the floor and back.

"Thirty-two survivors out of nearly FIVE hundred?!" She

ran her hands through her hair and kneaded her forehead,

"All those people are dead, and we should have stopped it!"

Mamoru stood and placed a hand on her shoulder, "You

guys did everything you could, Minako."

She threw his grip on her arm away and left the room.

Rei's bedroom door slammed shut, and we were silent again.

"Let her be, Rei-chan," Usagi said, stopping Rei in

her tracks as she headed for her bedroom.

"She's not about to run away from this now! She's our

leader, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let her cry like a

baby when we should be doing something to fix this!"

"And do you honestly think that you storming in there

and ripping her apart is going to help fix anything?" Usagi

said in an even tone, looking more like her mother than ever

before.

Rei breathed deeply for a moment and scoffed, walking

back to her place on the floor where she proceeded to glower.

We all sat in silence after that, listening to the

blizard rage outside and the tick-tock of the grandfather

clock in the corner until it was shattered by the ringing of

the telephone.

I jumped, as did everyone else, and Rei retrieved

the phone hastily.

"What?" She demanded.

...

"Jason, if you don't stop calling me, I'm not

going to be telling you anything!"

...

"Are you kidding me? You have got to be the most--"

...

"Fine."

...

"Today? Alright. Be here at 8."

...

"Bye."

She hung up the phone and glared at it before

turning back to us.

"They're coming at 8. We can't put it off any

longer anyway."

"OK. WHAT is everyone talking about?" I finally

demanded, tired of being left in the dark.

Rei turned to Mamoru who turned to Usagi who

finally turned to Makoto who rolled her eyes.

"Fine. I'll tell her. Ami, last night while you

were healing me, Zach had apparently sobered up and

came back to the warehouse to check on us. What he

found--well, you know what he found. Mamoru had

detransformed and was standing by his car with five

sailor senshi. Zach's a smart guy and he put the

pieces together."

My mouth dropped. He knew. They all knew.

Usagi moaned, "This is going to be a long

night. Who's gonna order the pizza?"

A half hour later, Minako still hadn't come

out of Rei's room, and I was getting a little ancy

to get out of there. I needed fresh air and time to

think on my own before having to explain to my boy-

friend that I'd been risking my neck saving the

world for the last five years.

Usagi and Mamoru had been quietly talking

the entire time, and Rei and Makoto had put in some

movie I hadn't been paying attention to. Luna and

Artemis braced themselves and crept into Rei's room

and hadn't been seen since.

I was increasingly feeling claustrophobic,

something I'd never experienced before. It was time

to go.

"Minna, I'm going to head home. I'll be back

at 7:30, alright?" Everyone's eyes followed me as I

walked silently to get my things and then unlocked

the front door, closing it on their concerned frowns

behind me.

I decided to walk home rather than take the

bus. The blizzard had subsided into random flurries

that clung to the coats and scarves of others who had

taken advantage of the change in weather.

I wanted to see Zach so badly that it hurt to think

about it, but the thought of what that meeting would bring

made me want to run to the farthest corner of the earth and

disappear.

Then there was the relief that I wouldn't have to

lie anymore. I settled on that happy thought as I shoved my

front door open and was greeted by my extremely frazzled

mother.

"Ami-chan! Thank God you're alright!"

I dropped my bag to the floor.

If I can get through this, seeing Zach'll be a piece of cake.

"Mom...hi."

As it turned out, Rei had called my mother and

told her that Makoto had fallen ill during the first hour

of the party and we all decided to go home with her to make

sure she was alright.

My mother went through the usual parental motions of

fretting over my health and everything and expressed her deep

relief that we hadn't been there for the attack. And then she

grabbed her coat and whisked off to the emergency room for

sugery that would last all night.

After the door had closed behind her, I felt like

dropping on the floor and sleeping away the rest of my

young adulthood until I was old and things were much less

complicated.

Ultimately, I settled for another shower. After

everything that had transpired since I'd woken up that

afternoon, I felt strangely dingy. It was only around

four thirty by then, so I figured that afterward I'd

devote the rest of the afternoon to reviewing my extensive

Anatomy notes to make up for my neglectory behavior the

past few weeks. I still had to figure out how I would beg

my way into convincing my Biology professor that I deserved

a make-up quiz.

As I contemplated, I turned the tap, adjusted the setting

on the shower head to massage and began to undress. But before

I could even step into the shower, the furious pounding of

fists sounded against my front door.

My heart raced inside of my chest; I was still

on edge from last night's battle and couldn't help but

feel a lurch of fear at what the new arrival could bring.

Grabbing my bathrobe, I tied it around my waist and

cautiously walked towards the foyer.

The fists subsided after a while, and I stood on

my tip-toes to peek through the eye-hole. After I realized

whose retreating back I was seeing, I immediately unlocked

the door and ran out.

"Zach, wait!"

He turned around, startled, and walked briskly

towards me. There was no relief in his eyes, no happiness

or spark of any emotion really. Just urgency.

I furrowed my brow, worried at his stony face, and

stepped aside as he whisked past me and into my apartment.

He grabbed my arm, and I moved my mouth to speak.

"Zach, what's--"

He cut me off, slamming his mouth against mine. I

was shocked and just stood there as he devoured my lips as

if in any moment we'd both disappear. My lips burned and were

bruising beneath his own, but I returned his kiss with as

much fervor as I had in my own exhaustion.

I had to breathe, but I was afraid to pull away.

The urgency that I'd recognized in his eyes had traveled into

his arms and now wrapped itself around my waist, not willing

to let me go just yet.

When I was sure I might suffocate, I pushed his arms

away gently, then his lips softened, and he was standing, breathless

in front of me. His green eyes were blazing with an emotion I

was slow to decipher, and he just stood there--staring.

He was scaring me. My hands shook at my sides, and my

crimson stained lips trembled. I wasn't even sure why I had

started to cry.

And then I was in his arms again. He held me tight around

my waist, stroking the back of my head gently. I didn't know what

to think, didn't know what to say or do or even if I wanted to break

the uncomfortable silence that had enveloped us.

His breaths became broken and heavy against my neck, and more

tears fell from my eyes.

"Za-ach..." I croaked.

He brought his head out from the crook of my neck

and rubbed his thumbs over my moist cheeks, the unidentifiable

emotion leaving his darkened eyes.

"You're scaring me, Zach."

My eyes wavered when he didn't respond to my voice, and I

reached up and brushed aside his bangs. My fingers hovered near his

ear, and I gasped when a tear slipped from his eyes.

"I-," He stopped speaking, struggling with something to

get his words together, "I'm sorry."

"I just..." He broke eye contact with me, gently taking me

in his arms again, "I thought I was going to lose you last night."

"Lose me?" I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck, now

grasping the reason behind the turbulence of his gaze, "You're never

going to lose me, Zach."

He didn't say anything, and I let him hold me as long as it

took for him to open up again. It felt so indescribable being there

and comforting him for a change. I didn't want to fail him when he

needed me.

"I'm here, Zach. I'm fine," I brought his face to mine,

kissed his lips softly, and looked into his eyes intently.

He nodded barely, sighing heavily onto my forehead.

"How long?"

I stared at our entwined hands for a moment, "Since I was

in junior high." I rubbed the palms of his hands with my fingers

and tried to ease the gravity of the sitation.

"Jesus, Ami." He let go of my hands and ran his through

his hair and over his eyes.

"And do you always do that?" He seemed to be staring

straight through me, and I suddenly felt very aware of what I

was wearing even though his gaze was locked on only my eyes.

"Do what?"

"Risk your life like that without even thinking about

it?"

I heard traces of anger behind his words, but I

understood. My legs were aching from standing still for so

long, and I led him over to the couch where he gathered me

in his arms and sat beside me.

I wanted him to understand. I needed him to understand.

He grabbed my hands in his own, and I turned around to face him

completely.

"I had to heal her, Zach. She would have died, and

I couldn't have let that happen, even if it meant..."

"Even if it meant you...died?" He forced the last word

and looked away. I pulled his chin back towards me.

"And you would have done the same for Kyle or Jason or

Matt," I reasoned.

His stone face melted slowly, and my heart fluttered

when his eyes finally returned to their normal color.

"You have a point, but," He rubbed my hands together

in his own, "When I saw you there, giving your life away without

even a second thought, all I could think about was that you

would be gone."

I started to speak, but he pressed his fingers on

my lips to silence me, "I've never had to deal with those

feelings with anyone else before, and I want you to know

that you mean...so much to me, Ami."

My head was swirling. Was he really saying these

things to me? Before I could stop them, my walls appeared

out of no where and slammed my heart shut, but they weren't

as strong as they used to be. They'd been weakened by the man

sitting in front of me, cracked by the sincerity in his voice

and the light in eyes.

"I love you, Ami-chan."

-------------------------------------------------------

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12/27/03 (7/19/04)


	12. 12 Into the Fire

To Go, Please

Chapter 12: Into the Fire

Rating: PG13

Author: Adrial

E-mail: To Go, Please  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
It was amazing how in the short span of a few seconds--nanoseconds, even--that so many different thoughts raged through my mind, all like flickering beads of light, going faster and faster until they smeared together in one giant, all encompassing blur. Three words. I couldn't believe it, but he'd said them. It was my greatest dream enveloped in my worst nightmare.

The dimmed lights in my apartment shadowed my face and the threatening tears clouding my vision. Our slow and deliberate breaths were the only sound present outside of the bubble we had engaged ourselves in.

In my mind, troubled and confused as it was, I felt Zach's presence, heard his heart beating so close to mine, and stared into his eyes, desperately trying to comprehend even a hint of what I was feeling. It was impossible. He was there, forever and unwaveringly there. I, however, was a little hesitant to receive him and the risks involved in doing so.

And to make matters worse, I knew in my heart that I hadn't severed the last string I had connecting me to Urawa. He was still there, coyly digging into the capsules of my heart and stubbornly refusing to just let me go. I wanted now more than ever to break away from him--his face, his memories, good and bad. He was the prisoner of the frame tucked safely away in my closet, and I was the warlock. The key dangled at my side, and yet I still couldn't lock him in his cell where he belonged.

And here was Zach. He had brought me back to life, a life that I'd never dreamed I'd live, given me hope, affection, and now love, a love so tangible in his eyes as they bore into mine that I could barely breathe around it. I held no secrets from him, except the one that could destroy everything we had and could ever have together.

I could have screamed, brutally and atrociously bellowed from the bottom of my soul to rattle and strain my vocal chords until my cries broke and shattered around me. I was so frustrated with myself.

Zach squeezed my hand, partly, I was sure, to make sure I hadn't gone into shock. I wasn't sure he was all too convinced by the tear-filled gaze I responded with. "Ami-chan..." And just like that, I was back. Back to reality, back to rationality, back to him.

"Zach...I--"

I stopped. I had no clue what to say. I didn't want to hurt him but I couldn't find the strength to say what I knew he wanted and needed to hear. It was selfish, now that I look back on it, to think that I could so easily put his feelings on hold because I was too cowardly to face what was so blatantly right in front of my face and more so, in my heart.

It seemed that someone was looking out for the well-being of my nerves, because my telephone elicited a ring from across the room, blasting through our bubble without ceremony.

Zach flinched and released my hand. I was still frozen, but he saved me the trouble of moving by leaving my side and walking to the boisterous appliance on the other side of the living room. "Hello?" He answered, averting his eyes from mine. 

"..."

"Yes, she's here, but she's busy at the moment."

"..."

"Now? I thought--"

"..."

He sighed, "Alright. Give us fifteen. Bye." When he turned to me he looked extremely tired, as if he hadn't slept all night, and judging by the way he'd stormed into my apartment and bared his soul, I wasn't all too sure that it wasn't true. 

"W-who was that?" I stuttered. I felt like I hadn't spoken in years.

"Rei," He answered succinctly, "Jason showed up at the temple twenty minutes ago and insisted on ringing the door bell incessantly until her grandfather threatened to call the cops and she had to let him in.

I stared at my hands. "Do they want us to come over now?" It was only 5:30, and we'd decided to meet at 8:00 to talk to all of the guys together.

"Yeah. Matt and Kyle are on their way there now," He clenched and unclenched his hands into loose fists, something he was accustomed to doing in awkward situations.

I was about to ask him to hand me my coat when I realized I was still clad in only my bathrobe. I had the decency to blush. "Um...I need to change. Do you mind waiting?" I rose shakily to find that both of my feet had fallen asleep from my sitting on them for so long. Zach had to leap to catch me from crashing into the coffee table.

"Are you alright?" He asked gently and helped me stand once again. It was all I could do not to crumble in his arms like a broken doll, but I had to be strong for now.

"Yes. Th-thank you for catching me." I was horribly formal, and I even felt my stomach lurch at his look of descrepancy. "I'll always catch you Ami-chan," He took my hands in his,"I meant what I said."

Before he had the chance to say it again, I uncoiled our fingers and turned around. "I'll only take a few minutes."

I could only imagine the hurt that must have been flashing in his eyes at the moment, but I didn't have to stretch my mind too far. The same pain stabbed my own chest as I used every ounce of will power to make it down the hall and into my bedroom.  
  
The short ride to Rei's home felt like an eternity to me. Zach and I sat in total silence. He had every right to be furious with me for being so reserved when he was wearing his heart on his sleeve, but the hand he kept wrapped around my own as he drove ensured me that he had no intentions of drawing it back. I knew I couldn't count on him to wait forever, though, and as we ascended the temple's steps I squeezed his hand tightly, hoping that he'd take it as a sign that I wasn't totally out of the game just yet.

The front door opened just as Zach had reached his hand to knock, revealing an extremely frazzled Darien. His hair and clothes were tousled, and his eyes were frantic. He took two seconds to absorb our presence before speaking.

"I'm assuming you two have already discussed this?" He asked around labored breaths.  
Zach and I nodded silently. Darien's eyes lit up. "Thank God. I need reinforcements. Jason and Matt have been all over me ever since they got here." He stood back to let us in, "Rei and the others are hiding out in her bedroom, thus leaving the lone warrior, me, to defend them." Zach took both of our jackets and threw them across the back of Rei's couch. 

"What about Kyle?" Darien rolled his eyes and pointed to the kitchen. There, Kyle sat with Luna and Artemis calmly devouring half a box of pizza and looking absolutely content in doing so.

"What's up?" He waved a hand idly when he realized he was being observed. Zach smirked, and Darien flipped Kyle off. I had never seen him so unraveled before. But, judging by the scuff marks on Rei's wooden floor and the disarrayed living room that barely resembled the semi-orderly place I'd left mere hours ago, I couldn't blame him. "Alright. Let's get those idiots outta there," Zach sighed and followed Darien down a hallway. After they'd disappeared around the corner, I pulled up a stool next to Kyle at the breakfast bar. "Slice?" He held up a thick piece of pepperoni/cheese goop, and I couldn't help but oblige. I hadn't eaten in 24 hours, anyways. I could indulge this once. As I ravenously devoured the food, Luna strided over next to my side. "Well?" I furrowed my brow and took a few seconds to chew and swallow; Kyle was still eating his pizza as peaceful as he could be, and I wondered if his hearing was off. 

"U-um, Luna," I nodded sharply to my left towards Kyle and she stared at me as if I wasn't stating my point.

"Yes, I see him, Ami, and..." She paused and then jerked to attention, "Oh! Oh, Ami, dear, Artemis and I have had plenty of time to get acquainted with Mr. Madison while those two-two-boys," she shuddered and looked about as disgusted as a mother who'd found out her sons had been TPing the neighbor's house, "Well, anyhow, he's up to speed on Artemis and I." 

I cast an inquisitive look towards Kyle, and he shrugged.

"My girlfriend's a sailor senshi from 1000 years ago, two talking cats are nothing to me now," He flashed his trademark barely-a-smile-but-still-a-smile and took another slice from the box. 

He seemed entirely unphased by the whole ordeal, and I had to commend him for taking it so well. The last thing Mina needed was Kyle breathing down her neck about something she had no intention of stopping on top of all the guilt she was dealing with.

Luna looked unconvinced and leaned close to my ear to whisper, "You should have seen his face. Darien had to give him the hemlic when he nearly choked on his pizza; Artemis was in stitches."

I stifled a chuckle and finished off my piece at a speed Usagi would have been proud of.

"So, as I was saying," Luna began, "Well...?"

"What?"

She frowned, "Well, how did _it_ go?"

I knew perfectly well what she was asking, but I really didn't feel like discussing '_it'_ at the moment. "Fine." It was all I was willing to give up, and she looked curiously into my eyes for a second before turning around again.

"I suppose you were lucky then. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumber have been wreaking havoc on those poor girls incessantly all afternoon long. I've never seen such immaturity in grown young men in all my years," She scolded in her Luna-like way, and I let Artemis do the 'nod and agree' thing while I started on my second slice.

As I was wiping off the last traces of sauce from my lips, the sounds of shuffling footsteps approached.

"You better eat more now if you want it. Jason and Matt eat like beasts after they're done annoying the hell out of undeserving citizens," He offered a loose smile, and I laughed a little.

"Get in there and SIT." Darien and Zach had entered the doorway, each lugging a frazzled Matt and red-faced Jason into the dining room.

Jason threw Zach's hand from its lethal grip on his shoulder, "When I tell your mom you ripped a hole in this shirt she's gonna have your ass in a sling," He grumbled pathetically and plopped down beside Kyle.

Zach scoffed, "That's the shirt Nana gave you for Christmas last year, and when you tell YOUR mom that YOU ripped a hole in it, she's gonna be serving YOU for Christmas dinner."

Darien cleared his throat after Jason had finished flipping Zach off sufficiently enough, "Alright ladies," He flung Matt loose and watched him with a smug smile as he gingerly massaged the shoulder Darien had been tugging along him like a rag doll with, "Are we ready to calm down now or do we need to have nap time or something?"

Jason tried to growl some unintelligible phrase at Darien but nearly choked on the mouthful of cheese he'd shoved down his throat in a rage. He settled on throwing a fake orange at his head from Rei's fruit basket. Darien dodged the projectile fruit and it bounced harmlessly into the living room.

He laughed bemusedly, "Hey, save it for your girlfriend, Ronweld, or I'll take you outside right now and--"

"And do _what_, Darien?" Rei appeared in the threshold with her hands placed firmly upon her hips in a decidedly Rei fasion. Darien flashed a boyish grin to her lethal glare and backed away from Jason. "Rei-chan, you're looking lovely today."

"Save it, Chiba, or I'll take _you_ outside," She glared.

"Alright! That's my woman, always taking up for her man," Jason proudly exclaimed, slinging an arm around Rei's shoulders. I had to admit, Jason sure had guts. I wasn't sure it was going to save him from Rei's wrath, however.

She lurched his arm away from her like it was on fire and punched him square in the shoulder.

"You broke my grandfather's door, you ass!" She continued to rain blows on him until he was backed into a corner and crying for help.

The rest of us pretended we could suddenly hear and see nothing and Usagi led the other girls into the room. Usagi limped over to Darien's arms and instantly went about checking him for any injuries. She fretted over a minute scratch above his eye for five minutes before he could get her to back off without making her cry. "

Usa, I'm fine, really," He assured her for the umpteenth time. Makoto and Minako had squeezed past the couple and seated themselves at the table beside me.

Matt, having realized how idiotic he had acted in the past hour or so followed suit with his head bowed. Makoto refused to even look at him, stubbornly keeping her nose in the air. By then Rei had Jason in a head lock, and we were still pretending to be blind, deaf and dumb.

I had already retrieved my mini-computer. I wanted to be prepared to upload any data or saved information from previous meetings should the guys have any questions that required outside help. 

Luna and Artemis were perched on the edge of the table watching Rei and Jason go at it as if it were a cage match in the WWE, and Kyle flipped open another box of pizza. I guessed it was up to me to get things in order.

"Ahem, excuse me." I tried once. "AHEM, minna?" Twice. "If you could just settle down for a moment..." Snap. "**_QUIET!!!"_**  
  
Everyone completely halted. Rei's fist was in mid-air, a mere inch or two from Jason's scrunched up face, and she was breathing heavily. "Damn," Matt declared, open-mouthed and gaping at me as if I had grown an extra head.  
I blushed profusely, embarrassed at my outburst, but happy with its reaction. "Yes, ahem, now that I have your attention, I believe you all have some questions you'd like answered about the five of us girls?" "And guys." Darien quipped. I nodded compliantly and added, "Yes, and guys." Rei let Jason drop to the floor like a sack of potatoes and pulled a chair out from the table. She sat and Usagi and Darien followed suit. "Thank you Ami, I believe we'll take it from here," Luna began and would have continued had the three men who hadn't had time get 'acquainted' with the talking felines not gone into conniptions. "Holy shit!" "Did that cat just--?!" "I can't believe this is--!" "You're all psycho aren't you? You're all completely, friggin' nuts," Jason laughed manically, the combination of repeated blows to his head and a talking cat did little to enhance his thought process. "Oh, shut up," Rei grumbled. And that was how it all began. Luna had a little trouble explaining her ability to speak and Artemis, the poor guy, had to introduce himself to the already shell-shocked men and submit to more bewildered exclamations before we even began to get to the real issue of the night. That part wasn't too difficult with the help of Usagi's patient understanding as the guys, namely Jason, asked question after question after question...and so on. "No, Jason, we can not mentally shorten the length of our skirts. But thank you for asking," Usagi added with a strained smile. She was tired, and so was everyone else after the two hour long discussion. Rei didn't even lift a hand to thwack Jason for his decidedly male inquiries. By nine 'o clock our eyes were hanging from their sockets from lack of energy and the guys were still bright-eyed with questions. I kept a half-vigil on Zach throughout as he remained peculiarly silent. Darien was half asleep on the table and when he let out a jaw-splitting yawn, we knew it was time to wrap it up. "Wow," Jason breathed and turned to Rei with new appreciation, "This sailor thing is so hot. Hey, can I get a picture and show it to the basketball team? Oh, man, they'd never believe I was dating a sailor senshi!" He laughed at the possibility, and Rei rose from her seat. "NO!" Luna exclaimed, "Absolutely under no circumstances should any of you tell ANYone about the senshi's identities. Their lives and yours could be in mortal danger if such information were to reach the wrong ears. We are trusting you with this information not by choice but because you are quickly becoming a major part of our senshi's lives and we see no reason why you should not be considered trustworthy. However, if you choose to break this trust, the consequences will be dire." 

The gravity of Luna's words nearly crushed us all as she stared down each of the guys with steeled eyes.

Kyle, Matt, and Zach nodded succinctly, and Jason, though quivering slightly from shock at being scolded by a five pound cat, nodded as well, accepting their responsibility to us willingly. "Yep, well, on that note, I think it's time for a little R&R. Ami and I have an anatomy final to study for tomorrow." Darien raised a charming smile at me which basically told me I'd end up doing the studying and he'd copy my notes while talking lovey-dovey to Usagi on the telephone. "If you have any more questions, feel free to ask," Luna said as she and Artmeis prepared to leave. Jason lifted his hand into the air to wave them goodbye but stopped halfway, feeling supremely stupid for waving to a cat. "You'll get used to them eventually," Usagi shrugged, taking the proffered jacket and arm from Darien as he helped her towards the front door. I slipped my mini computer back into my pocket and slid out from the table, excusing myself to the restroom. After I'd finished, I was startled to find Zach waiting for me in the hallway. He covered my lips with his hand before I could say anything. "Just promise me you won't shut me completely out, Ami-chan." He seemed like he was pleading with me, as if I really had the power to worry him that deeply. I shook my head to uncover my lips, but he continued, "Promise me, please, Ami-chan." I stared into his eyes for a long time before I finally nodded and he uncovered my mouth. He replaced his fingers with his own lips and left before I could even realize he'd gone. When I had returned to the dining room, everyone had left. Rei was sitting in the living room, staring dazedly into space as I walked towards her to tell her goodbye. "Rei-chan? I'm leaving now..." I started, but she instantly snapped back into reality. "Oh, wait, Ami-chan!" She grabbed my wrist and stood, "I wanted to do a fire reading while I'm still focused on this new enemy, and I was hoping you wouldn't mind sticking around and watching," She gestured towards the hall that led to the sacred fire, and I internally sighed. I knew this was her way of asking if she could see if there were any inky negaworms inhabiting my body without freaking me out. Truth be told, I was utterly exhausted and had no real desire to sit in front of the fire for any amount of time, but Rei's eyes urged me silently and I relented. "Alright."  
  
"Now, focus on the flames, Ami-chan. It's not hard at all," Rei's eyes were shut over her amethyst orbs and she held my hands in her own, uttering foreign words through barely parted lips. I swallowed deeply, having no real clue what to do when speaking to the Great Fire, but I took a deep breath and closed my eyes slowly. The heat of the fire was so intense on my skin that I felt as if my insides were boiling beneath it; sweat poured steadily down my cheeks and stung my eyes. I tried not to focus on the impact of the flames but rather the energy I felt from them. Rei's grip on my hands tightened and her utterances rose in volume, emblazoned with a power I'd never experienced from her before. I dug deep into the feelings around me, waiting to hear the voices Rei was speaking to, and the blanket of scalding heat enveloping me subsided gradually until I felt comfortable in its presence. My eyes quivered from being shut too long, and I continued to take deep, heavy breaths. I could no longer feel Rei's hands in my own; my heart beat raced forcibly in my chest. 

_"Into the fire, into the fire..."  
_  
I swallowed, straining to hear the whispers that seemed to come to me from behind a wall. The urge to open my eyes overwhelmed me and I lifted my lids cautiously.

The scarlet flames no longer licked dangerously at the air in front of my body; they had morphed into shades of cool sapphire and blinding whites that danced around my body in a circle of placid warmth. "Into the fire..." I felt myself saying. Something was pulling me toward the flames; I couldn't feel my legs moving or the sound of Rei's bated breaths anymore, all I felt were the summons of the voice in my mind and the invisible arms that led me deeper into the heart of the fire. A blinding flash of light rocked my senses like a head-on collision, and I teetered back, shutting my eyes against its intensity. The air shook around me, and currents of moist wind beat at my body with aching force. When I felt as if I could no longer stand it and my lungs burned with the need to breathe, the turbulence stopped abruptly. My first breath was shaky and I immediately went to my knees, skidding them against sharp gravel. Bent over and heaving dryly, I barely registered that I was no longer in front of the Great Fire and Rei was no where to be found. The tips of two glowing slippers appeared in the corner of my vision, and I wiped my mouth against the back of my hand. "Ami..." On shaky limbs I rose, hesitantly raising my head up to encounter the vision of radiance standing before me, nearly soaking up the still air around us with her aura. My eyes wavered for a moment and focused in on their mirror image, mere inches away. "Mother...?" 

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2/15/04 (long time ago, eh?)

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AN: Yeah, the formatting sucked at the end, but i spent a half hour trying to fix it on this stupid site and it STILL wouldn't cooperate. Sorry for the inconvenience!

PS: Hope you liked! REVIEW--It's good for the soul ;-)  
  
ciao!

Adrial


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